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THE GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
A NEW EDITION.
VOL. IX.
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THE GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY :
CONTAINING
AN HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ACCOUNT
or TBI
LIVES AND WRITINGS
or THS
MOST EMINENT PERSONS
IN EVERY NATION;
PARTICULARLY THE BRITISH AND IRISH;
FROM THE EARLIEST ACCOUNTS TO THE PRESENT TIME..
A NEW EDITION,
REVISED AND ENLARGED BY
ALEXANDER CHALMERS, F. S. A.
VOL. IX.
LONDON:
pmHTSO FOR J. 1IIGHOL8 AMD tOM ; F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON j T. PAYNi: |
OTRIDGB AND SON ; O. AND W. NICOL ; WILKIE AND ROBINSON } J. WALKER ;
S. I.BA \ W. L0WNDB8 ; WHITE, COCHRANBy AND CO. | J. DEIOHTON ;
T. BOEBTON ; LACKINOTON, ALLEN, AND CO. ; J. CARPENTER; LOMOMAN»
■UR8T, BBB8, ORME, AND BROWN | CADBLL AND DA VIES j C. LAW | J. BOOKER }
J. COTBELL; CLARKB AND SONS; J. AND A. ARCH; J. BABRI8} BLACK»
FARBYy AND CO.; \*J;SS!!ISjJ\3^^J^A.^'^^^^* CURTIS^ AND FBNNBB;
B. H. BVAN8i^^^|^x4^^; J|. HA^DlNQ^f.^^^^^ J. JOHN-
BON A»l> CO.\^Mfr^^lifm ^ ,«^««»ff-:.>r h^i
1813.
A NEW AND GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
V^EBES» the author of a well-known and beautiful alle^^
gory in Greek, entitled " A Picture of Human Life," is
supposed to have flourished about 400 B. C. The piec^
is aientioned by some of the ancient writers, by Lucian,
Diogenes Laertius, Tertullian, and Suidas ; but of Cebes
himself we have no account, unless that he. is once men^*
tioned by Plato, and once by Jtenjjphon. The former
says of him, in his " Ph^ddy^'i'ihsktyi^: was a sagacious
investigator of truth, and n^er ^ss^epted without the most
convincing reasons; the laVtftjr,.Jo rbis " Memorabilia,"
jranks bim among the few ini^^ted' of .^derates, who ex-
celled the rest in the innoceiifGir of .their lives ; but the
abbe Sevio and professor Meiners have endeavoured to
prove that the ^^ Picture" is the work of a more modern
author. Brucker seems to be of a different opinion. . It is
evidently Socratic in its moral spirit and character, although
not without some sentiments which appear to have been
borrowed from the Pythagorean school. It was translated
by the rev. Joseph Spence for Dodsley's " Museum," and
was after wards- inserted in his " Preceptor," and in other
moral collections. There are many separate editions of
the original, but for above a century, it has usually been
printed with Epictetus's " Enchiridium," for the use of
schools.^
CECCO b'ASCOLI, is the adopted name of Francis,
or Francesco Stabili, a native of Ascoli, in the nOarch of
Ancona, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, wha
> Fabricii Btbl, Onec— Morcri.— Brucker^
Voi^IX. B .
2 C E C C O.
acquired considerable reputation, unfortunately for himself,
as a critic and poet. Among the many anachronisms and
contradictions in the accounts given of bis life, which Tira*
boftchi has endeavoured to correct, we find that when
young, he was professor of astrology in the university of
Bologna, that be published a book on that science, which
being denounced to the Inquisition, he escaped by re-
canting what w^ offiensive ; but that the same accusations
being afterwards renewed at Florence, he was condemned
to be burnt, and suffered that horrible death in 1327, in
the seventieth year of his age. We have already seen,
in former lives, that it waa no uncommon thing for enraged
authors to apply to the secular arm for that revenge which
they could not otherwise have inflicted on one another.
The pretence for putting this poor map to death, was hts
** Commentary on the Sphere of John de Sacrabosco,'* in
which, following the superstition of the times, he asserted
that wonderful things might be done by the agency of cer-
tain demons who inhabited the first of the celestial spheres.
This was foolish enough, but it was the prevalent folly of
the times, and Cecco probabVy believed what he wrote.
That he was not an impostor wiser than those whom he
duped, appears from his conduct to Chstrles, duke of Ca*
labria, who appointed him his astrologer, and who, having
consulted him on the future conduct of; his wife and daugh-
ter, Cecco, by bis art, foretold that they would turn out
very abandoned characters* Had he not' persuaded him-
self into the truth of this, he surely would have conciliated
so powerful a patron by^ a prediction of a mpre favourable
kind ; and this, as may be supposed, lost him the favour of
the duke. But even the loss of bis friend would not have
brought him to the stake, if he bad not rendered himself
unpopular by attacking, the literarj' merit of Dante and
Gnido Cavalcanti, in his poem entitled ** A<;erba.*' This
provoked the malice of a famous physician,, named Dlno
•del Garbo, who never desisted until.he procured him to be
capitally condemned; This poem *' Acerba," properly
** Acerbo,*' or "Acervo,** in Latin ^c^rvuj, is in the
sesta rtma divided into five books, and each of these into
a number of chapters, treating of the heavens, the ele-
ments, virtues, vices, love, animals, minerals, religion,
&c« ' The whole is written in a bad 6tyle, destitute of har-
inony> elegance^ or grace,; and, according to a late au-
thor, much of the plan^ as well as the materials, a;re t^^t^
. C E C C 0» 4
\
t
(torn the ** Trcsor'* Tof Brunekto Latini. It i$, bbwever. It
work Id demand with collecton^ and although often
printed, most of the editions are now very scarce. The
first was printed at Venice in 1476^ 4tOf with the canimeH«>
tary of Nicolo Massetti^ and was reprinted in^ 1478,
Haym (in the edition of his Bibliotecai 1771) speaks of-^
first edition as early as 1458, which We apprehend no bib**
liographer has seen.'
CECIL (WiLUAM)) lord Burleighi an illustrious stateii^
man of the sixteenth century, descended from the ancient
and honourable family of Sitsilt, or Cecily of Alterennes^
in Herefordshire, was the son of Richard Cecils, mastei*
of the robes to Henry VIII. by Jane, daughter and heiress
of William Hickingtoa, of Bourne, co. Lincoln, esq< He
wae born in the house of his grandfather, David Cecily at
> • ■
* This Richard, by the interest of for life. In 1544 he purchased the
his fAth^r, David Cecil, or Cyssel, of manor of Esyns^^on, in the county of
bttaif<ird, in LiDCOhiitiire, esq. vm Eutland, then also, in the crown, as
■referred io the eighth year of Henry a parcel of the earl of VVarwick't
VllL to be one of the pages of the lands, and the following year be sur-
erowd. In 1520 he waited on the rendered his custody of Vt'^ai^ck<*
king at that famous interview with the castle. He remained yeoraan ef tbtf
king of France, between Calais ^nd robes to king £dward VI. to the las(
Gaiennet; and ?n 1530, being groom day of his life, which was the nine-*
of the robes to that king, obtained a teeoth of May, 1552 ; and dying M
gnuit of the office of constable of War- ooart» his body was interred in ^ the
wick-castle, then in the crown. In (larish church of St. Margaret's W^st-
1435, being one of the grooms of the minster. In the month of April) 1553^
: wardrobe, be had n grant of the office a commission Was issued to sir RU
of bayliff of the king's . water called chard Cotton, sir Ralph Sadler, and
Wittlesey-mere,- and the ctstody of sir Walter Miidmay, knights, together
the swans, and of those waters called with Edmund Pidgeon, clerk of the
Great Crick and Merys, in the coun- wardrobes, any three or two of them,
ties of Cambridge, Lincolfli- Hunting- io take an account of Jane Cecil, and
don, a|id Korthamptob, for the term eir WiiUam Cc«il, knt. administratcrft
^ thirty 3^artf, after the expiratioo.of af the testameat of Richard Cecil, for
the term granted to David Cyssell his certain robes, apparel, and jewels of
father. In 1539 he waa sheriff of Rut- the king, in the custody df the said
In 1540, beiiig written Richard. His widow, who surviVfd-
Richard Cecyll of BuHey, in the county b im thirty-five yea rs, was a very* graTe,
of Northampton, esq. he had a grant religious, and vhtuous lady, delighting
ta him, Me heirs, aad. AfMgoi for ever, much in wovkt of |iiety and charity^
of the site of 8t« Michael's priory as well ia her Itfe^time as at her de«
near Stamford, and the church, and cease, March 10, 1581, aged eighty-
S$9 acres of arable fatndi lying Hi the seven. The lord-treasurer Bu^lei|h
parish of St Mafttii%, in Stainfiard, in caused ta he erected at the upper ekid
the county of Northampton. In 1542, of the north chancel in St. Martin's
being then yeoman of the wardrobe, church at Stamford, a nOble monti-
be was made yeoman of (he king's^ «nentto the memory of his paventsj and.
manors of NakfcingtOa^ Yarwel, and by it is his own.
tTpton, la the countv of Northampton,
c
I Tiraboichit-«<Jtfattri«^>-43iDgaeA6 fiSst Lit. 4'Italie; valJUl--^osbeim in
iiscniaaas, ^
S 2*
4 CECIL..
Bourne, in Lincolnshire, Sept. 13, 1520, and wali first edu*
cated at the grammar-school at Grantham, whence he
afterwards removed to Stamford. On May 27, 14^35, he
entered of St. John^s-coliege, Cambridge, and was no less
distingaished by the regularity of his life, than by an un-
commonly diligent application to his studies. Finding
several persons of eminent talents at that time students
there, this inspired him with such a thirst for learning,
that be made an agreement with the bell-ringer to call him
up at four o'clock every morning, and this sedentary life
brought on a humour in his legs,, which, although removed
with some difficulty, his physicians considered as one of
the principal causes of that inveterate gout with which he
was tormented in the latter part of his life. Dr. Nicholas ,
Medcalfe, who was at this time master of the college, was
his principal patron, and frequently gave him money to
encourage him ; but the strong passion he had to excel his
* contemporaries, and to distinguish himself early in the
university, was the chief spur to his endeavours. At six-
teen he read a sophistry lecture, and at nineteen a Greek
lecture, not for any pay or salary, but as a fi;entleman for .
bis pleasure, and this at a time when there were but few
who were masters of Greek, either in that college or in
the university. But though he applied himself with so
much assiduity to Greek literature, he laid up at the same
Vime a considerable stock of general knowledge, having
then no particular predilection to any single branch of
science.
About 1^41, his father placed him in Gray's-inn, with
a view to the profession of the law, whe.re he pursued the
same indefatigable application, until by an accidental dis-
play of his knowledge, he became known at court.' One
O'Neil, an Irish chief, brought to court two of his chap-
Jains, who falling in with Mr. Cecil, engaged in a dispute
with hin^ on the power of the Roman pontiff, in which he •
had so much the superiority, that the matter was men-
^ tioneid to Henry VIIL who expressed a^ desire to see him,
admired his abilities, and gave him the reversion of ti>e
place of custos brevium.
, Such early encouragement diverted Mr. Cecil from the
profession of the law, and bis marriage with the sister of
the celebrated sir John Cheke, who introduced him to the
earl of Hertford, afterwards duke of Somerset, probably
directed bis views to politics. In the beginning' of' the
CECIL. 5
reign of Edward VI. he came into possession of bis office
of Gustos brevium, worth 240/. a year^ and having married^
as his second wife, Mildred, daughter of sir Anthony Cook,
bis interest at court became more considerable. In 1547,
bis patron the protector duke of Somerset, bestowed on hioji
the place of master of requests, and took him with him
in his expedition into Scotland, in September of tbat year,
where he was present. at the battle of Musselburgh, and
y^vy narrowly escaped a cannon-shot. On his retuqi to
court, Edward VI. advanced him to the high post of secre-
tary of state, which he enjoyed twice in that reign, iirst
in 1343, and then, after an interval, in 1551, but histo-
rians are not agreed in these dates, although what we have
given appear to be pretty near the truth. When the
party was formed against the protector, Mr. Cecil shared
in his fail, which followed soon afterwards, and was sent
to prison in November 1549, where he remained three
months.
On his being liberated, he was again introduced to court,
where his acknowledged abilities regained him his office^'
under the duke of Northumberland, the enemy and ac*
complisher of the ruin of his old patron the duke of So-
merset. This re-appointment took place, as we have no*
ticed, in September 1551, and in October following he
was knighted, and sworn of the privy-council. He has
been much blamed for this transfer of his services, as a sa-
crifice of his gratitude to his interest; and many excuses,
palliations, and even justification^^ have been urged for
him. The best seems to be tbat his pretensions to the
promotion were founded, not on his servility and depen-
dence on one or the other of these great men, but on his su-
Eerior fitness for the office. It is universally allowed that
e possessed great abilities, and his credit now increased
with the young king» for whom he is said to have written
many of those papers, &c. which are generally attributed
to Edward. The princess Mary affected on one occasion
to discover this, for when a letter from bis majesty was
presented to her on her obstinate adherence to the popish
religion, she cried, <^ Ah ! Mr. Cecil's pen took great
pains here.**
-Sir William Cecil acted with such caution and prudence
in the various intrigues for the crown on the death of king
£dif arcl, ^at on qu^e^ Mary's accession, altjiQugh known
to be a ^^ous protestant, he remained unmolested in
(8 C E C i L,
parson, property, or reputatioD. Rapiii has givien a very
unfair colouring to air William^s conduct at this critical
period. After stating that he waited upon the queen, was
graciously received, and might have kept his employment,
if he would have complied so far as to have declared him-
self of her majesty's religion, he closes with the following
remark ; *^ He was nevertheless exposed to no persecution
on account of his religion, whether his artful behaviour
gave no advantages against him, or his particular merit
procured him a distinction above all other protestants/^
As ta the artfulness of his behaviour, it will best appear
from the answer he gave to those honourable persons, who
by eommand of the queen communed with him on this
vubject, to whom he declared, ** That he thought himself
bound to serve Ged* first, and next the queen ; but if her
service should put him out of God*s service, he hoped her
siajest}'^ wouM give him leave to chuse an everlasting, ra*.
jther than a momentary service ; and as for the queen, she.-
had been his so gracious lady, that he would ever serve
and pray for her in his heart, and with his body and goods
be as ready to serve in her defence as any of her loyal
subjects, so she would please to grant him leave to use his
conscience to himself, and serve her at large as a private
man, which he chose rather than to be her greatest coun-
sellor.'^ The queen took him at his word, and this was
all the art that sir William used to procure liberty of con*
science for himself; unless we should call it art, that he
behaved himself with much prudence and circumspection
afterwards. Nor is it true, as. insinuated by Rapin, that
|ie was the only protestant unmolested in this reign.
Among others, the names of sir Thomas Smith, and the
celebrated Roger Ascham, may be quoted ; but as Mary's
bigotry increased with her years, it may be doubtful whe-"
ther those would have been long spared. Almost the last
act of her life was an attempt to kindle the flames of per*-
(secution in Ireland.
- Daring the reign of Mary, sir William Cecil representedi
the county of Lincoln | and vfas active in the mollifying of
a bill for confiscating the estates of those who had fled the
kingdofn for their religion, and while thus employed, h^ .
parriec| pn a private correspondence with the princess Eli-
xabeth| the presumptive heir to the crown. In thesQ
transactions he seems to have abated somewhat of thi^t
caution imputed' to him by bistoriapsy and certainly ei^'?
CECIL. r
countered iS6me danger ; bat hia charaoteri boId» spirited^
and open, seems to have afforded him proteotiou, while
he refers his coUra,ge to a higher source. In bis diary, hd
$ayS| *^ I spoke my. mind freely, whereby I incurred sbme
displeasure^ But better it is to obey God than man."
All this was very gratefully acknowledged by Elizabeth,.
oa her accession to the throne, November i6, 1558. The
first service that he rendered her was on that day, when
he presented her with a paper, consisting of twelve parti*
culars, which were necessary for her to dispatch imme«
diately. At the time of her sister*s decease, queen. £liza-»
beth was at her manor of Hatfield, whither most of the
leading men repaired to her ; and on the 20th of the same
month, her council was formed, when sir William Cecil
was firit sworn privy«counsellor and secretary of state ;
and as he entered ^us early into his sovereign's favour, so
lie continued in it as long as he lived { which if in one
tense it does honour to the abilities and services of Cecily
It was in another no less glorious to the queen his mistress,
who, in thu respeet, did not act from any spirit of par^p
tiaiity or of prepossession, but with that wisdom and pru^
dence which directed her judgment in all things. She
saw plainly that sir 'William Cecil's interests were inter**
woven with her own, and that he wns fittest td be her
GounseUor whose private safety mmt depend upon the
success of the counsel he gave ; and though there were
other persons, who were sometimes as great or greater fa-
vourites than Cecil, yet he was the only minister whom
she always conduhed, atid whose advice she very rarely
r^ected. The first thing he advised was to call a parlia-*
ment, for the settlement of religion ; and caused a plan of
refbrnnation to be drawn with equal circumspection and
moderation; for, though no man was a Inore sincere pro*
testant, yet he had no vindictive prejiidides against papists^
nor did he on the other hand lay any greater weight upon
indifferent things, than he judged absolutely necessary fot .
preserving decency and order* It was his opinion that
withont aiB established church, the state could not at that
time sdi>sist ; and whoever considers the shdtre he bad in
establishing it, aod has a just veneration for that wise and .
etcelient establishment, c^not but albw that the most
grateful reverenee is due to bis memory*. ^
The reaamder of his adminietratien would in fact be a
history of that memoiabte I1»ig% end in such a sketch ai^
« CECIL.
the present, we can'adtert only to the leading events:
He had not been long seated in his high office, before
foreign affairs required his care. France, Spain, and Scot-^
land, all demanded the full force of his wisdom and skill.
Spain was a secret enemy ; France was a declared one, and
^ad Scotland much in her power, fiy the minister's ad«
vice, therefore, the interest of the reformed religion in
Scotland was taken under Elizabeth's protection. This
produced the convention of Leith ; and Cecil, as a remu-
neration for his services in this affair, obtained the place
of master of the wards, Jan. 10, 1561, an office which he
did not take as a sinecure, but of which he discharged the
load of business with patience and diligence to the satis-
faction of all. In his management of the house of commons,
«ir William exhibited equal caution, address, and capa-
city« The question of the future succession to the crown
was often brought forward, sometimes &om real and welln
founded anxiety ; soinetimes from officiousness ; and oftea
from factious motives. On this subject both the sovereign
and the minister preserved an unbroken reserve', from
which neither irritation nor calumny could induce bim to
depart. Perhaps this reserve, on his part, arose from his
deference to the queen, but ir seems more likely that bis
advice influenced her behaviour on this critical point.
There were no less than three claimants publicly men«
tioned, vis. the queen of Scots, the &mily of Hastings,
and the family of Suffolk ; and the partizans of each of
these were equally vehement and loud, as appears by
** Leicester's Commonwealth," Doleman's ** Treatise of
the Succession,'' and other pieces on the same subject.
The queeu observed a kind of neutrality^ but still in such
a manner as sufficiently intimated she favoured the first
title, or rather looked upon it as the best, notwithstanding
the jealousies she had of her presumptive successor. This
appeared by her confining John Hales, who wrote a book
in defence of the Suffolk line, and by imprisoning one
Thornton, upon the complaint of the queen of Scots, for
writing against her title. The secretary kept hims^f clear
of all this, and never gave the least intimation of bis own
. sentimcrnts, farther than that he wished the question of the
successipn might rest during the queen's life, or till she
thought proper to determine it in a legal way. . .
Sir William early penetrated into the hostile feelings of
Fhilip IL of Spaing but i^e advised his mistress to keep ou
CECIL. 9
her guard against that monarch ; and yet not to break with
him. With France he proposed other measures ; the pro-
testaDts had there created very powerful internal dissen-
tions, and England, he thought, might avail herself of
that hostility with effect, while it opened a probability of
success, and afforded an opportunity for our troops to gain
experience, and our navy strength. His rival, Leicester,
in vain misrepresented and censured the advice now given,
for the purpose of destroying the queen's confidence in
him ; and a plot laid by that subtle favourite for overthrow-
iog hira utterly failed, through her majesty's penetration
and spirit. The affair is thus related :
Some Spanish ships, having great treasure on board,
put into the English ports to secure it from the French,'
and afterwards landed it, the queenSi officers assisting, and
the Spanish ambassador solemnly affirming ,it was his mas*
ter's money, and that he was sending it into the Nether-
lands for the pay of his army. The secretary, in the mean
time, received advice that this was not true, and that it
was the money of some Genoese bankers, who were in the
greatest terror lest the duke of Alva should convert the
same to his master's use, in order to carry on some great
deMgn, which the court ol *Spain kept as an impenetrable
secret Cecil tberefoiie advised the queen to take the
money herself, and give the Genoese security for it, by
which die would greaiiy advantage her own affairs, distress
the Spaniards, relieve the Netherlands, and wrong nobody.
The queen took his advice, and when upon this the duke
of Alva seized the effects of the English in the Netherlands,
she made reprisals, and out of them immediately indemni-
fied her own merchants. The Spanish ambassador at Lon-
don behaved with great violence upon this occasion, giving
secretary Cecil ill language at the council*table,' and li^
belling the queen, by appeahng to the people again^'
their sovereign's administration. This produced a great
deal of disturbance, aad Leicester and his party took care
lo have it published every where, that Cecil was Ae sole
author pf this couusd. ' While things were in: this ferment,
Leicester beld a. private consultation with the lords he had
drawn to his inteiest, wherein he proposed that they should
lake this occasion o£rem6viog a man whom they unani-^
Biously bated. /Some of the iords^inquiring how. this eoukt
be dpiie I . sir JiJieholaa TJbrogmorton answered, << Let him
be charged with some matter or other in council when the
10 a E 0 L L,
queen is not present, cooamit him to the Tower thereupon,
and when he is once in prison we shall find things enow
against him.'' It so happened^ that about this time a fla-
grant libel being published against the nobility, lord Lei-
cester caused Cecil to be charged before the council,
either with being the author of it, or it's patron ; of which
be offered no other proof than that it bad been seen oa
Cecirs table. This the secretary readily confessed, but
insisted that be looked upon it in the same light they,
did, as a most scandalous invective; in support of which
be produced his own c<^y with notes on the margin, af**
firming that he had caused a strict inquiry to be made
after the author and publisher of the work. All this, how-
ever, would have been but of little use to him, if the
queen bad not had private notice of their design. While
therefore the secretary was defending himself, she sud-
denly and unexpectedly entered the council-room, ami
having in few words expressed her dislike of such cabals,
preserved her minister, and shewed even Leicester himself
that he could not be overthrown. The affair of the duke
of Norfolk^s ruin followed, not long after he bad been
embarked in the faction against Cecil ; and therefore we
find this minister sometimes charged, though very un-
justly, with being the author of his misfortunes, a calumny
from which be vindicated bimiself with candour, clearness,
and vivacity, as equally abhorring the thoughts of revenge,
and hazarding the public aafety to facilitate bis- private
advantage. Cecil, indeed, had no greater share in the
duke's misfortune, than was necessarily imposed upon him
by bis office of secretary^ and which consequently it was
not in bis power to avoid ; to which we may add, that the
duke hiaiself was in some measure accessary thereto, by
acting under the delusive infiuence of liis capital enemy as
well as Cecil- s. The duke'a infatuated conduct, after
having once received a pardon, rendeced his practices too
dAUgerous to be again forgiven. It eannot be doubted that
this great nobleman was the tool of the .views of the ce^
tholic party : and there is reason to believe that t||^e pie»
vious design of ruining Cecil was to get rid of him before,
this plan was ripe, from a just fear of his penetration, and
hia power to defeat it. CeciPs fidelity was followed by
isucb public and some severe private revenge. His son«4
ia^^law^ lord'Chrfovd, pat his threat intQ exesoiion of rain^
CECIL. 11
ing his daughter, by forsaking her bed, and wasting the
fortune of her posterity, if the duke^s life was not spared.
Tbe queen was so sensible of the great importance of Ce«
cil's service on this occasion, that, however sparing of her
honours, she raised him to the peerage by tbe title of Baron
of Burleigh in February 1671, when he had not much to
support his rank, for in a confidential letter written about
this time, he calls himself ** tbe poorest lord in England.**
Tbe queen^s favour did not in other respects add to his
.comfort, nor protect him from new attempts to destroy him.
A conspiracy of the private kind was now formed against
bis life : and the two assassins, Barmsy and Matter, charged
it, at their execution, on the Spanish ambassador, for which
and other offences the ambassador waa ordered to quit the
kingdom. As a consolation, however, for these dangers,
he was honoured with the order of tbe garter in June 1572;
and in September following, on the death of tbe marquis
of Winchester, was appointed k)rd high treasurer.
The weight of business that now lay upon him, and the
variety of his duties, was such as it seems almost incredible
that one man could discbarge ; fet he went through then
all with the utmost strictness and punctuality. AH his
power, talents, industry, aad fortitude, could not however
at all times place him above anxiety and disgust at tbe
intrigues, troubles, and dangers that surrounded him. He
bad even thoughts of a resignation, which the queen would
not bear of. The popish and Spanish factions were his
incessant enemies ; and the favourite Leicester never
slackened in his arts to lower and counteract him. His vi^
gour however was not lessened ; and tbe next great af&ir
in which he was engaged required it all. The trial of the
queen of Scots approached ; and the lord treasurer is
charged with having been a strong, promoter of this mea-
sure. Of an affiiir which has engaged the pens and pas»
sions of so many able historians, it would be impossible iu
this place to diacusa the merits. We shall only add in the
words of au aUe authority, whom we hav« in various in*'
stances fi»Uowed^ that tbe measure was a tremendously
strong- one i but there might be a state*necessity for it*
Biirleigb was not a man of blood ; Mary's intrigues were
incesaaut ; and her constant intercourse and machinations
with a truly dangerous, powerful, and unappeasable foe**
tioiv QOt0|!ioUI^'
12 CECIL.
In March 1^87, the lord treasurer lost his motlier at a
grreat age, with which he was nuch effected ; and on April
4, 1589| be lost his beloved wife, daughter of sir Anthony
Cook, whose death he mourned with the deepest regret^.
He had but lately been delivered from the fatigue of draw*
ing up schemes for the defence of the country against ^he
threatened Spanish armada. Not long afterwards he again
requested to resign, but the queen still refused to spare hifs
services, and the remaining part of his- life was spent in
the unabated discharge of his high office. In 1592 he
managed the concerns of a supply, which he furthered in
the upper house by a speech of great knowledge and ta-
lent. In short, even, at this late period of his age, almost
all the important affairs of state we»e under his guidance,
and ecclesiastical affairs, in particular, required much of
his moderating wisdom. Besides the catholic party, he
had to contend with some of the ablest of the puritans, who
maintained a hostility of a different kind with the esta^
blished church. Matters of finance, and the affairs of the
admiralty, were all continually referred to him ; and he let
nothing pass him .without due consideratipD. The maxim
.which aided him through these complicated concerns was
this, that ^* the shortest way to do many things was only
to do one thing at once."
• The last memorable act of his life was the attempt to
bring about a peace with Spain, in which he was vehe-*
mently opposed by Essex, then in the fire of youth, which
might animate him to daring deeds to gratify his own am-
])ition. The young soldier w^s warm in the debate, which
induced the venerable minister to pull out a prayer-book^
and point to the words ^* Men of blood shall not live out
^ This lady was wonderfully learn- be bought in the name of the dean of
ed, especially ito the Greek tongue, as Westminster, and by bim aitsfgned td
^appears from tbe testimony of the tbe college. She likewise gave tb*
lard Burleigh himself, and of several Haberdashers* company in London, a
other great men, and of which sHe left sum to enable them to lend to six poor
clear evidence, in a letter penned by men twenty pounds a-piece every twft
ber in that language to the university years ; and a charity of the like kin4
of Cambridge, upon her sending thi- of twenty marks, to six poor people
ther a Hebrew Bible, by way of pre- at Waltham an<i Cheshunt in Hertford-
ftnt to the library. She had read most shire. Four times every year she re«
of the Greek fathers with great dili> lieved all the poor pri&oners in Lon-
gence and critical accuracy, and was den, and many other acts of benevp.
one of the greatest patronesses of her lence she did, with as great secrecy as
time, maintaining for many years two generosity ; so ths^ she seems to have
scbolars at St. John's college in Cam- well deserved all the praises that have
bridge ; and before her death rendered been by different writers beftowedf
this perpetual, by procuring lands to ' upon her memory.
C EC I L. . 13
Balf tbeir days."— At length worn out with age, and more
than forty years^ uninterrupted and unexampled labours in
the state, on the 4th of August, 1598, about four- in the
morning, in the presence of twenty children, friends and
servants, he yielded up the ghost with wonderful serenity,
being upwards of seventy-seven years old.
With regard to his person, though he was not remark^
My tall, nor eminently handsome, yet his person was
always agreeable, and became more and more so, as he
grew in years, age becoming him better than youth. The
hair of his head and beard grew perfectly white, and he
preserved almost to his dying day a fine and florid com^
plexion. His temper contributed much towards making
faim generally beloved, for he was always serene and
cheerful ; so perfect a master of his looks and words, that
what passed in his mind was never discoverable from either;
patient in hearing, ready in answering, yet without any
quickness, and in a style suited to the understanding &f
him to whom he spoke. Idleness was his aver^on ; and
though from twenty-five years of age, at which he v^as
sworn a privy counsellor, being then the youngest, as at
his death the oldest in Europe, he laboured under a great
weight of public business ; yet when he had any vacant
moments he spent them not in trifles, or in pursuit of sen^
sual pleasures, but in reading, meditating, or writing. He^
had a perfect knowledge, not only of forergn countries,
but of foreign courts ; knew the genius of every prince in
Europe, his counsellors and favourites. At home he kept
exact lists of all the great officers, and particularly of the
sages in the law. He was acquainted with the course of
every court of judicature in England, knew its rise, juris*
diction, ^nd proper sphere of action ; within which he took
care that it should act with rigour, and was no less careful
that it should ndt- exceed its bounds* He wrote not only
elegant Latin in prose, but also very good verses in that;
and in the English language. He understood Greek as.
well as niQSt men in that age ; and was so learned in divi*
nicy, that divines of all persuasimis were desirous of suh*
mitting to his judgniient*. Mis peculiar diversions were
* He was Tisry mach pressed by uoanimous opinion apon some of tiie
ijniie diviaes of his time, who waited disputed points. They i^turned, bow-
tn him id a body, to make some al- ever, to him tery soon, wit hoot baiog
teratioosjn the Liturfy. He. desired able to agree. ** Why, gentiemeii)'*
them to go into the next room by said he, " how can yoa expect that I
tbaoMlves,. and briiig him an their shall alter mny point in dispute, when
14 CECIL.
the fitttdy of the state of England^ and the pedigrees of its
nobility and gentry : of these last he drew whole books
with Us own band, so that he was better versed in descents
and families, than moat of tb^ heralds ; and would often
sarprize persons of distinction at his table, by appearing
better acquainted with their manors, parks, woods, &c*
than they were themselves. To this continual application,
and to his genius, naturally comprehensive, was owing that
fund of knowledge, which made him never at a loss in any
eompany, or upon any subject It was also owing to this
that he spoke with such wonderful weight on all public oc-
casions, generally at the endf of the debate, but without
fepetition of what was said before, stating the matter
clearly, shewing the convenience sought, the inconve-^
niences feared ; the means of attaining the former, and
the methods by which the latter might be avoided, with a
succinctness and accuracy whichy perhaps, hardly ever fell
lo any other man^s share. But what was still more snr^
prising, was the great facility with which he did this ; for
he required no preparation, \\o time for his most laboured
speechesi nor ever turned a book for bis most learned
writings, but thought, and spoke, digested, and dictated^
without any hesitation, with the greatest perspicuity of sei^
timent, and the utmost fulness of diction.
With regard to his domestic habits, be had during <)uee^
£lizabeth*s reign, four places of residence ; bis lodgings
at court, his house in the Slraod, his family seat at Bur-
leigh, and his own favourite seat at Theobalds. At his
house in London he had fourscore persons in family, ex*
elusiveily of those who attended him at court. His €%--
penees there, as we have it from a person who lived mauy
years in his family, were thirty pounds a week io his »b*
. ience, and between forty and fifty when present At
iTheobalds he bad thirty persons in family; and besides a
constant allowance in charity, he directed ten pounds n
week to be laid out in keeping the poor at work iu his gar-
dens, &c. The expences of his stables were a thousand
marks a year: so that as be had a great income, and left •
good estate to his children, he was not afraid of keeping '
vmV. who must b6 more oompetont, traosUtion'of Cicero's Epitiles, says,
from your situatioo» to judge than I tlial this great statesman made tfa^
can pdstibly be, eaonot agree among " bis glassa, bis mle, bis owtissso»»
yovrsolvoa io what manoer you vouM and his pooket-book»*'
bava mt ailtf it?" Dr. Watl, in hit
C E E I L. 15^
up also at style suited tdhis offices. He also kept a:5tand-
ing table for gentlemen, and two other tables for persons
•of meaner coadition, wtiich were alwaj^s served alike, whe-
ther he were.iu town or out of town. About his person he
had people of great distinction, and had' twenty gentlemen
retainers, who had each a thousand pounds a year ; and as
many among his ordinary servants, who were worth from
1000/. to 3, 5, 1 0, and 20,00a Twelve times he enter-
tained the queen at his house for several weeks together,
at the expeoce of 2 or 30002. each time. Three fine housea
he built,. one in London, another at Burleigh,. and the third
at Theobalds : all of which were less remarkable for their
largeRess and magnificence, than for their neatness and
excellent contrivance. Yet with all this mighty expence,
it was the opinion of competent judges, that an avaricious
•man woald have made more of bis offices in seven yearg,
than he did in forty. At hia death he left about 4<X)0/. a
year in land, 1 1,000/. in money, and in valuable effect
iboot 14,000/.
He was considered as the best parent of his time, for he
had all hi» children, and their descendants, constantly at
his table ; and in their conversation lay the greatest plea^
sure of bis life, especially while his mother lived, who was
able to see the fifth descent £rbm herself, there being ho
degree of relation, or consanguinity, which at festival times
were not to be found at lord Burleigh's table. It was there
that, laying aside all thoughts of business, he was .so
affable, easy, and merry, that he seemed never to have
thought of any, and yet this was the only part of his life
which viFas enturely free therefrom ; and his frankness and
famiHiMrity brought so many persons of high rank to bis
house, as did him great credit and service, in respect to
his friends, he was. always easy, cheerful, and kind ; aild
whatever their condition was, he talked to them, as if they
had been his equals in ei^ery respect ; yet it is said, that
be was held a better enemy than friend ; and that tfaxsi was
so weU known, that some opposed him from a view of in-
terest. It is certain, that those who were most intimate
with him, had no sort of influence over him, and did.not
care to ask him for any thing ; because he did not readily
grant, and was little pleased with such sort of suits. One
reason of this was, that most of those whom he preferred
became his enemies^ becanse he would not gratify them in
fiurther pretensions^ His seov^ets he justed with none, in*
16 CECIL.
dulged a general conversation^ and woald not sufier affairs
of state to be canvassed in mixed company, or wh^u friends
were met to divert themselves. With respect, to bis ene-
mies, he never said any thing harsh of tbeoi:, farthered on
every occasion their reasonable requests, and was so far
from seeking, that he neglected all opportunities of re-
venge ; always professing, that he never went to bed out
of charity with any man ; and frequently sa3'ing, that pa*
tience; and a calm bearing of aspersions and injuria, had
wrought him more good than his own abilities. He was
far, however, from being an ungrateful man, for without
intreaty he would serve bis friends as far as it w&s just ;
and for his servants; and those about him, he was very
careful of their welfare, mostly at his own expence. He
never raised his own rents, or displaced his tenants ; and as
the rent was when he bought land, so it stood ; insomuch,
that some enjoyed, for twenty pounds a year, during his
whole life, what might have been let for two hundred :
yet in his public character he was very severe ; and .as he
never meddled with the queen's treasure himself* «a he
would see that it was not embezzled by others ; for it was
his saying, that whoever cheated the crown oppressed the
people. In the midst of all his grandeur he was ever easy
of access, free from pride, and alike complaieajnt to all
degrees of people: for as be was grave in council, exact
in courts of jiistice, familiar towards his friends, outwardly
and inwardly fond of his children, so. when he went inio
the country iie would converse with all his servants s^
kindly as if he had been their equal ; talk to country peo-
ple in their own style and manner, and would even conde-
scend to sooth little children in their sports and plays ; so
gentle was his temper, and so abundant his good-nature^
At Theobalds he had fine gardens, which cost him a great
deal of money, and which were laid out according to his
own directions. He had a little mule, upon which he rode
up and down the walks ; sometimes he would look on those
who were shooting with arrows, or playing with bowls;
but as for himself, he never took any diversion, taking that
word in its usual sense. He had two or three friends, who
were constantly at his table, because he liked their com*
pany ; but in all his life he never had one favourite, or
suffered any body to get an ascendant oyer him. His
equipage, his great house-keeping, his numerous. depend-
ents^ were the effects of his sense, wd not at all of his
4StCiV. 17
^iofAi "Idr tie deliglttedlittle in any of dfem'^s tnd*Wfaen-
^ver lie bad any time to' spare, he fled, as his expression
was, to The6baids; and baricfd himself in privacy.
The quben^s regstrd to lord Burleigh/thonjgh sincere and
permanent,' was occasionally intermtked with n6 sdtiall de-
gree of petulance and itt buittonr. He Was severely ris-^
proached by her in 1*594, on account of the state of ai&ir$
in Ireland ; 'tod, on another occasion, ' when he persisted^
against her will, in a design of quitting the court for a feW'
days, ' for 'tjie purpose of taking physic, she called hini
**a froward old fool." He fell also under her majesty^s
diBif^eastire because hfe disagreed with her in opinion con-
cerning aftf affair which rented to the earl of Essex. Havl
iBg*stipp6rted the earl's claim, -in opposition to the queen^
her iiidignattoh was so 'much excited against the trea-
surer, that ^he treated him as a miscrearft and a coward.
Lord BuH^ig^h -being in the latter part of his life much
subject to die gout, sir John Harrington observe;;,' in d
letter to hl^ lordship, that he did not ' invite the stay o^
such ag^d^t'by rich' Wines, or strong 'ipic^s. It i$ pro-
Imble tluit the frequent return of this disorder, in conjunc-
tion with the weight of business, and the general infirmi-
ties of ige, bontributed td the peevishness into which he
was ' som^^^me^ betrayed. In a conversation Which he had
with Mons. de FouqueroUes, an agent from Henry the
Fourth^' king of FfaUce, he lost himself so much, as to
reflect in the grossest tei^ms upon that monarch. This
was, indeed, an astonishing act of imprudence, in a man
of his years and experience ; and affords a striking instance
of the errors and inadvertencies to which the wisest and
best persons are liable. When the lord treasurer died,
queen Elisabeth was so much aflbcted with the event,^ that
she took it very grievously, shed tears, and separated her-
selj^ for a time, from all company.
Besides fbese lesser feilihgs of this great man, he has
been accused of illiberality to the poet Spenser, which
perhaps may be attributed to his dislike of Leicester, under
wbose'patronage Spensef bad come forward, but perhaps
more to his want of relish fbr poetry. On the other hand,
our historians are generally agreefd in their praises of his
high character, Smollett only has endeavoured to lessen
it^ but as this is coupled with a disregard for historical
truth, the attempt is entitled to little regard, and the ad-
vocates for Mary queeti of Scots cannot be, supposed to
Vol. IX. C
19 p E c :( L.
forgive the share be bad in h^r fate^ LQi^'Qrfofd W
given lord Burleigh a place among, bis ^^ Bpyi^tj^nd Noble
Authors/^ but at the same time justly phserves^ ti^t he^is.oM
^f those grcjajt naines, better kpq.wq itir the ai>nal^^bi^ coun-
try tl^an i\% tb(»e pi the republic of letters* ^qsUUfl lord
Burleigh^s answer t^ a Latii^iibei published abroad, w|»iqb
be entitjied *^ S(ah4,ers and Lies,'* and ^ A MediuitJHQifi of
tbe State of l^nglaad, during the teign of Queen ]£U2»3i.heih,''
IJprd Orford mentions ^^ La Cooiiplairite de T Ao^ pecbe^
^esse,'' in, French verse, extant in the.king's libmry ; ^VCaih
inina duo Latin^ in Qbitum I^argaret^D Neyilla^,, Regiss
tlaiherinte i Cnblci^ilis ;" <^ C^armen Latinumin MenHMBiam
Tho. Challonerii Equitis auratji, prsfixupa.ejps^^n^ LjibtQ do
restaurat^ Republica ;'' ^A Preface to Qjieeo Catberiiw
Parr's Lamenitation of a Sinner." Wbeu $vr WMUWkCeoil
accompanied the duke of Somerset on his expi^ditigatQ
^otland, he ft^rnished materials for an aQCOUi>t;,;af;tbat
lyfai::, which w^s.. published by William Patteoi under tha
title of ^< Diarium Expeditions Scpiiq®/' London iS^h
12ipo. This i$ supposed to be tb^, reason ^by;lord Bur^
leigb is reckoned by HoUnsbed . ajpi^q^g the EDgli^b lu3to^
rjans^ ** The first paper or memorials pf sir WiJUswi, Cecily
anno primp Eliz." This, whiclvis only a ps^per ofndemon
randums, is printed in Somers's trfict^^ , from ^a fvaiHisciipii
i(n tbe Cotton library, "A Speech; in ParliaAien^t, 15^3.*!
"^bis Was first published by Strype in his Annal^ Mid bar
$i^ce been inserted in the ParUanientary, History. . *^ Lord
]^urleigh's Precepts, or directions for the well-ordering .and
carriage of a man'si life," 16&7. ^^ A Meditation on the
Peatb of his Lady.'' Mr. Ballard^ in his Memoirs of Bri-%
ti^h Ladies, has printed this Meditation from an oqginal .
formerly in tbe possession of Jam^^s Wes^,.esq^ but now in
the British Museum* Lord Burleigh was supposed to ba
the author of a thin pamphlet, in defence of the putnisb^
ments inflicted on the Roman catholics in the reign of
^ueen Elizabeth : it is called '< The Execution of Justice
in England, for maintenance of public and Christian peace,
against certain stirrers of sedition, and adherents to tbe
traitors land enemies of the reali^, without any persectmoii
of them for questions of religion, as it is falsely reported^
^c.'^ London, 1583, second edition. Other political pieces
were ascribed to him, apd even, tbe celebrated libel, eu^
titled '^Leicester's Comioonwealtb." It was asserted, tbair
the hints, at least^ wer^ furni9h«td by him for that ccoipo^
0 I C I L. f9
Mon. Biift tio pfddf lisfi ' b^en ^itetl of thid assertion,
and it was not founded on any degre€l6f probability.- Hit
lordship drei/r up kV&d a ifumber of pedigrees^ some of
which are prei^^d in the archbishop of Canterbury's
Kbrary at Lambeth; Th«ie contain' tbe genealogies of the
kings of England, from William tht Oonqueror to Edward
the Fourth; of queen Anne Boleyn; and of several princely
houses in Germany.
Out ot tbe large multitude of lortl Burleigh's letters^
which ar«f extant in various places, many have found their
way to the press.. Thirty-three are priiited in Pecfc*« De-
siderata CuriosH, and three in Howard's Collections. Many,
more may be met with* in^Di*. Forbes% Haynes% and,
Murdin's State Papers. The two last publications are spe-^.
ciiicaliy tahen frbn^ the original letters^ and other authen*
tie memorials left by lord Burleigh, and noW remaining at
Hatfield^hou^e, in tiie libniry of the earl of Salisbury J.
Haynes*s oollection, which was'publis^ed in 1740, extendii- .
from 1542! to 157a. Jiordin's, which appeared in 1759^*
reaches Irorii 1571 to 1 59a Both these publications throw
great light M the periodto Which they relate, and have.
been of eminent service to Our recent historians. The
whole course t)f the pro*fec|dings, relative to Mary queeii'
of Scots, is {iardcularly displayed rn these collections'; oii
whicli aecount much use has lately been made of them by
Br. Gilbert Stuart In the originctl papers of Mr. Anthony
Bacon, are several letters of lord' Burleigh, from which'
various extracts have be?en given by Dr. Birch, in his •^Me*
moirs of tbe Reign of Queen Elizabeth.*' There is also in
the Nugs Antique, a tetter 6t advice. Written by his lord-«
ship in 1578, to Mr. Harrington (afterwards sir John Har-
rington), then a student at thie university of Cambridge. Itl
die earl of Hardwicke's miscellaneous State Papers, besides
a number of letters addresi^d to Cecil, there are seven of
his own writing, relative to important public concerns.'
Ohe of them shews in a striking view, the, friendly beba*
viour of lord Burleigh to the earl of Leicester, when that
ndbleman laboured under the queen's displeasure, and
reflects great honour on the old treasurer's memory. It is
strange, says the earl of Hardwicke, that Camden passes it
over in silence : but, ind<$ed, adds his lordship, that histo-
rian's omissions are very unpardons^ble, cpnsid^ring the
lights he had. As to lord Burleigh'^s unpublished papeis^-
they are still exceedingly num^rd^^ and are extant in the'
c2
80 , C £ e I La
British Miuieum, in the Ubr^ries.of the earls of Salisburjr
and Hardwickei and in other plaoes. .
His lordship was btiried :at Stamford, where an elegant
moc^uaient i» ereo^ to bis memorj^. By bis first wife be
had jiis 0on and heir Thomas eiiri of Exeter, and. by. bi»
secofid a nuinerou^ issue, who all died^before him except
the subject of the following, article, to- wbont he .addressed
those valuable " precepts^ so often repiinted. Few meft
knew better than > lord BurFeigh how to adtise the young.
Peacham, in .his< ^^ Gentleman,'* informs us that when any^
one, came to tho; lords, of the council for a licence to traveiy
he would first examine him of : England, and if he fpunci
hiaa ignorant,^ he ii^ould bid him . stay at home, ^iid. kiK>w.
his own country iBrst« ^
CE^CIL (RO^BE^T), earl of Salisbury, s^n to the pre*.
ceding, was born, p^robably, about the year \6S0, andr
being of a weakly cqmstitution, was tenderly brought up
by his mother^ and educated under a careful and excellent
tutor till he was sent to Str^Job^'S college, €ambridgev
Here he had conferred upon hinrii the degree of* M. A^ and^
was afterwards incorporated in.th^ same degree at Oxford.
In the pariiaments of 1585 and }59r6 he served for the city
of Westminster ; as he did aftervKi^rd^i in 1588, 1592, 15d7,
i^nd 1600, for the county of Hertford. In 1388. he was*
one of the young no.bility who went volunteers en board
the English fleet sent against the Spanish armada. Hef
lyas & courtier from his'cradle, having the advantage of the
instructions and experience of his illustrious fat l^r|'«nd
living in those times when queen Elizabeth had most need
of the ablest persons, was employed by her in .a^ifsof
the highest importance, and received the honour of kn-ight*
hood in the beginning of June 1591, and in August fol-
lowing Was sworn of the privy>counciK In 1596 he wa&
appointed secretary of state, to the great disgust of the
earl of Essex, who was then absent in the expedition
against Cadiz, and had been zealous for the promotion ojf
sir Thpnhias Bodley. Whilst he was in that post h^ shewed
«a indefatigable address in procuring foreign intelligence
fcom all parts of the world, holding, at his own charge, a
correspondence with all ambassadors and neighbouring
states. By this means he discovered queen Elizabeth's!
' » Biog. Brit.— Sir £. Brydgfs's edition of Cbllins.— -Park's edition of Rayal
arid Noble ^utlkom— fitrype's- AritmlS) Meno^idkU, anrf Lirtt, passim, Ice.^— >
I<p^*t ilIiuitni(kHis,/vol. Ui^iM^»i)tsidcrBta, fcc
C fi C 1 L. Si\
enemies abroftdy and prkate congpiracies at hbmei and
was on tbis account as highly valued by th^ queen as ha
was hated by the popish parly*, who vented their mailed
against him in several libels, both printed and manusctiptj
and threatened to murder him ; to some of which he re*
turned an answer, both in Latin and English, declaring.
that he despised all their threats-for the service of so good
a cause as be was engaged in, tbat of religion and his
country. . i
In 1 597 he was eonstituted chancellor of the dueby of
Lancaster. In February 1597-8 be went to Fra.nce with
Hr. Herbert and sir Thomas Wylkes, to endeavour to di<^
vert Henry IV. from the treaty at Vervins; and in May
1599, succeeded his father in the office of master of th^
court of wards, for which he resigned a better place, that
of chancellor of the duchy, being so restrained in the eourf?
of wards, by new orders, that be wfis, as he expressed it,
ft ward himself. He succeeded his ^ther likewise in the
post of principal minister of state, and from that time
public aiiairs seem to have been entirely under his (}irecs-^
tion« During the last years of his queen, he supported
her deelining" age with such vigour and prudence as at
once enabled her to assist her allies the States General^
when tb^y were ingloriously abandoned by France, and to
defe(»t a dangerous rebellion in Ireland, which was che«
rished by powerful assistance from Spain. But though he
was a faithful servant to his mistress, yet he kept a secret
correspondence with her successor king James, in which
he was once in great danger of being discovered by the
queen. As her majesty was taking the air upon Blacks
heath, near her palace at Greenwich, a post riding by, she
inquired from whence M came ; and being told from
Scotland, she stofyped her coach to receive the packeti
Sir Robert Cecil, who attended her, . knowing there were
in it some letters from his correspondents, with great
presence of mind, called immediately for a knife to opedi *
it, that a delay might not create suspicion. When be
eame to cut it open, he told the queen that it looked and
smelt very ill, ai^d therefore was proper to be opened and
aired before she saw what it contained ; to which her ma-
jesty consented, having an extreme aversion to bad smells.
Upon her deoease he was the first who publicly read iiee
will, and proclaimed king James $ and his former services
to tbat.pripgei or the interest of sir.George Hume, afters
S» C E C X; L^
imr<l9 enrl of Dunb«T,. so effectually ifeeoinmeDded him to*
bbmajesty* tb&t he took/ him into the highest degree of
favour, and continued hitxit.in his office of principal iiiini&-<»
ter $ and though in that reign public affairs were, not car*
ried on with the same spirit as in the last, the fault ^eanaol
justly be charged on this minister, but an the king, whoae
tixmd temper iaduced him to have peince with all the world,
md esptiicially with ^Spain at jany rate, . But though sic
Robert Cecil was far from approving, in his heart, the
measures taken. for obtiMing that inglorious peace, yet he
ap far ingratiated, lumself with. his sovereign that he waa
raised to gveaier honours.^ being on May 1^, 1603, created
baron of Essenden^ in Rutlandshire; on the 20th of Au-«
gusi;, 1604, viscount Cranborne, in Dorsetshire (the first:
<tf that degree. who bore a.coronet), and on May 4, 1605^.
earl of Salisbury. . .
. He shewed himself upoa all occasions a zealous servant:
to his prince, without neglecting at the same time, fcha.
Tisal advantage of his cOuatry, and never heartily espousing;
the Spanish interest, though it wiis the only one coun^.
tenanced by king James; and isome of the courtiers, by.
encouraging it, acquired great riches. . The court of Spain,
was so sensible of his disinclination to them, that they. cut
deavoured to alienate the king's favour from him by meana.
of the queen ; and it was moved there in council^.tojsend
complaints to England of his malignant bumoor, or.eftTjir
to the Spanish nation ; upon which, if he did not alter hui
conduct, then a shorter course should be taken with him^^
by destroying him« Afterwards they entertained great
hopes of him, and resolved to omit no means to gain biwt^
over to their side. But when all the popish designs wera.
defeated by the discovery of. tbiQ gunpowder plot, which:.
bas since been represented by some of that party as a po»»:
litical contrivance of his, his activity in the detection :.o{
it, and zeal for the punishment of Uiose concerned in it^i
enraged them to such a degree, that several of the papista^
formed a combination against him. . This, however, tak<#
}ng no effect, they again attempted to ruin him in the
king's favour^, by reporting that he had a pension of fortyi
thousand crowns froas the States of the United Provinces,
for being their special favourer and patron. They hraaded
him likewise with the appellation of a puruao, a nasne pe*'
culiarly odious to king Jfames. At last they conspieed tor,
iiiurdei; him by a mssquet-aiiot out of ^e Ss^voy,. or aomei
c E ci r l: 23
bouse near, fts be was 'going by Wate)r to court.' But these
nefarious designs proved abortive^ though it apt)ear8 they
bad not desisted from them in 1609. Upon the death of
rir Thomas Sackville, earl of Dorset, lord-high-trea&urer,
jn April 1603, he liucceeded hiitk in that post ; and his ad-
▼anceiuent ^to ifc Was universally applauded, a great re-
formation being expected from him in the exchequer,,
which be accohlitigly effected. Finding it almost totally
exhaosted, he devised s^teral means for replenishing it
with monley, particularly by causing the royal manors tp
be surveyed, which berot^ were but imperfectly knbWn ;
by reviving the custody of crown lands; by commissions
of assets^ by taking cafe to have the king*s woods an4
timber viewed, numbered, marked, atid vsdued ; by haying
an exact survey made of the copyholds held of the crowhn
which be ordered to be printed; by compounding with .
the copyholders of the inheritance, and the possessors of
wastes and commons, originally appertaining to th^ king;
by appointing' commi^i^ioners to gather in the fines arising^
from penal laws, and such as accrued from the king^s ma^
Bors; by improvitig the customs from 66,000/. to 120,000/.
and afterwards to 135,000/. perann. and by surrendering
up his patent of master of the wards to the king, for bit
benefit and advantage.
His indefatigable api^lication to business having ruined
bis constitution, he died at Marlborough in his return from
Bath, May 24, 1612, and wad buried at Hatfield. He was
undoubtedly a Very able minister, but not very popular
while living, nor characterised with much praise since his
death. Dr. Birbh, however, appears his ablest advocate^
nt hh ^^ Historical View of the Negociations,'' &c. and his
researches behig carried farther than perhaps those of any
modern writer, what be istdvances seems more entitled to
eredit. » • /
•
It will b^ but justice, says Dr. Birch, to the character of
so eminent a person as the earl of Salisbury, to consider
him as he now appears to us from fuller and more impar*
ttal lights than the ignorance or envy of his own time
would admit of ; and which tnay be opposed to the general
invectives ahd unsupported libels of Weldon. and Wilson,
the scandalous cbroniclefs of the last age. He was evi-^
deutly a man of quicker pairts, and a more spirited writer
and speaker than his father, to whose experience he was
dt the same time obliged for his education and introducti(Hi
24 c^i^qii^
iDtQ public bqsin<ps9> in the^mwf^ex^&xt.of which he was
stccQunte'dj an^ perhaps justly^ more subtle^ and less open,
^nd ibis opinion of his bia$s to artifice and dissiouilatioa
was greatly owing to the singular address which he shewed
in penetrating into the secrets and reserved poj^ers of the
foreign ministers with whom be treated.; and l^ evading^
with uncommon dexterity, such points as they, pressed, whei|
it was not convenient to give them too explicit an answer^
|Iis correspondence with king James^ during^ the life o^
queen Elizabeth, was so closely, and arifully 'mauaged,
that he escaped a discovery, which would have ruined big
interest with his royal mistress^ though he afterwards justi«*
iied that cprres;p6ndence from a regard to her service^
. ^* For whjit," says he, " could more quiet the expectatioi^
of a successor, so many ways invited to jefilousy, thai\
^hen he saw her ministry, that were most inward with her,
ivbolly bent to accommodate the present auctions of states
for his future safety, when Gocl should see his time v '— ^
He was properly a sqle minister, though not under the
denpniination of ^ fs^vourite, his master having a mucl^
greater £^we of than love for him ; and he drew all business,
both foreign and domestic, intq his own hands, and suf*
fered no ministers to be employed abroad but who we^re
his dependents, and with whom he kept a most constant^
^nd exact correspondence: but the men whom be pre-
ferred to such employments, justified his choice, and di^l
credit to the use he made of his power. He appears to
havei been invariably attached to the true interest of big
country, being above corruption from, or dependency
upqn, any foreign courts ; which renders^ it not at all sur-
prising, that he should be abused by them all in ih^r
turns; as his attention to all tb^e motions of the popish
factiou made him equally odious to them. He fully un-
derstood the English constitution, and the just limits of
the prerogative \ and prevented the fatal consequences
which might hs^ve arisen from the frequent disputes.between.
king James I. and his parliaments. In short, he was as
good a minister as that prince would suffer him to be, a^d
as was consistent with his own security in a factious and
corrupt court ; and he was even nec;ligent of his, personal
Safety, whenever the interest of the public w?is at stafcje.
Ris post of lord treasurer, at a time when the exchequer
was exhausted by the king's boundless profusion, was at-
iended with infinite tro^jble to biQ^i in goncertin|; schemei
CECIL. SS
feur raisiing the sunpli^ ; and the manlier in which he was
obliged to raise tbeiny with the great fortaoe which he ac«*
cumulated to himselty in a measure beyond perhaps the
visible profits of bis places, exposed him to much detrae*
tion and popular clamoar, which followed him to his grare)
riiough experience shewed, that the nation sustained an
important loss by bis death ; since he was the only minister
of state of real abilities during the whide course of that
reign. He has been thought too severe and vindictive in
the treatment of bis rivals and enemies : but the part
which he acted towards tbe earl of Essex, seems entirely
the result of his duty to his mistress and the nation. It
must, however, be confessed, that his behaviour, towards ^
tbe great but unfortunate sir Walter Raleigh is an smpu*
tatioii upon him, which still remains to be cleared up ; and
it probably may be done from the ample memorials of his
administration in the Hatfield library.
A more elaborate apology for the earl of Salisbury wa*
written soon after bis decease, and addressed to king Jame%
by sir Walter Cope. This may be. seen in Gutch's *^ CoU
lectanea Curiosa,^^ vol. I. from which, as well asfrom the
account of his death in Peck's ^^ Desiderata,*' the ambi^
tious may derive a salutary lesson. . His '^ Secret Cor-*
respondence'V with king James, was published by lord H»les
in 1766, and the conclusion which his lordship thinks the
reader will draw is, that Salisbury was no less solicitous to
maintain his own power than to settle the succession to
bis aged benefactress queen Elizabeth. Various letters,
speeches, memorials, &o. from his pen are mentioned in
^ur authorities. Lord Salisbury married Elizabeth, sister
t% tbe unhappy Henry Brooke^ lord Cobham, thy whom,
who died in 1591, he had a daughter Frances, married to
Henry Clifford, earl of Cumberland, and an only son, Wil^*
}iam, second earl of Salisbury^ His descendant, James^
the seventh earl of Salisbury, was advanced to tbe title of
marquis ip 1789. '
. CECIL (RiCHAjiB), a late clergyman of the cfhurcbof
^England, w§s born in Cbiswell^treet,. London, on Nor,
jB, 1748. His father and grandfather wcare scadet-dyers to
the East India company. His mother was the only child
uf Mr. Grosvenor, a merchant of London, and was a strict
■ - • ' ' * '
* Biog. Brit— Park's Royal and Noble ^utbori.— Secret Correspondence, b]r
air D. Dalrymple, l*i66, 12mo.— Birch's Nefocuiti«RS.^*»l{istx>r3r of Q. £lliza«
^idb, andilife of Prii^oe Heniy.-^^Uamnfitoa'i ^oS« Mtiqiipw
2ff C E C I li,
dissenter, but bis father belonged to the^tiiblished cburch.
In. bis early years bis father intended him for business, but
the son bad a stronger predilection for general literature ;
and tbe. success o£ some juvenile attempts, inserted in the
periodical journals, withr a taste for thustc and painting,
diverted bim stilly more from trade. At iejigtb his father
detennined to give bim an university education, and, by th^
advice of Dr. Pbanuel Bacon, an old acquaintance, sent
hiin to Oxford, where he entered of Queen^s college. May
19, 177 S. Before this he had fallen into a course of read*
ing which dispelled the religious education of bis infancy,
and bad made bim almost a confirmed infidel. Previously,
however, to going to the university, he had recovered from
this infatuation, and became noted for that pious conduct
and principles which he maintained through life. With
his studies be combined his former attachment to the fine
arts, particularly music afnd painting, and might be deemed
a connoisseur in both, and upon most subjects of polite
literature manifested a critical taste and relish for the pro-^.
ductions of genius and imagination, of both which he bad
himself no small portion. In 1776 he was ordained dea-
coh, and in 1777 priest, having only taken his baohelor^s
degree, after whidi he withdrew his name from the college
books, and exercised his talents as a preacher in some
cbu robes in Lancashire. Soon after, by the interest of
some friends, two small livings were obtained for bim at
Leiwes in Susse:it, together in value only about 80/. a year.
These he did not long enjoy, a rheumatic affection in his
head obliging bim to employ a curate, the expence of which
required the whole of the income, but he continued ta
hold them for some years, and occasionally preached %l
Lewes. Removing to London, he officiated in different
churches and chapels, particularly the chapel in Orange-r
street and that in Long-acre, &c. In 1780 he was invited
to undertake^the duty of due chapel of St. John's, in Bed-
ford-row, and by the assistance of some friends who ad*
vanced considerable sums of money. Was enabled to repair
it, and collected a most numerous and respectable congre^
gation. But formany years he derived little emolument
ftom it, as he devoted the produce of the pews most con-
scientiously to tbedtscharge of the debts incurred. Eveii
in 1798, a* debt of 500/, remained on it, which his friends
and hearers, struck with bis honourable conduct, gene-*
rously defrayed by a subscription. Ici this year appeared
C E C I L. 27
timt ocHnplaint,- of tbe schirrQaft kind, wbicfa mora otr lest
afflicted him with excruciating pain during the femainde^
of his hfe, and frequently interrupted hig public laboursy
but which he bore with incredible patience and constancy,
la ISOO he was presented by the trustees of John Thornton^
esq. to the livings of Chobbam and Ksley in Sunsey, by
which 150/. was added to bis income^ the xenatnder of
their produce being required to provide a substitute at St«
John's chapel, and defraying the necessary travelling ex-
pences. In these parishes, notwithstanding the precarioua
statepf bis health, he pursued his ministenal labours with
unabated assiduity, and conciliated the affections of hia
people by his affectionate addresses, as well as by an ac«
commodation in the matter of tithes, which prevented all
disputes. In 1807 and 1808 two paralytie attacks under^
mined his constitution, and at length terminated in a fit of
apoplexy, ivhich proved fatal August 15, 1810. Few men
have left a character iiKMre estinisdble in every quality that
regards personal merit, or public services, bat for the de-*'
tailof these we must refer to the '^Memoirs'' prefixed tor
an edition of his Works, in 4 vols. 8vo, published in 1811'
for the bepefit of his family. Such was the regard in which*
be was held, that the whole of this edition of 1250 copies,
was subscribed fot by his friends andcongregatien. The
first volume contains bis *^ Life of Mr. Cadc^an,'* printed
separately in 1793; that of ^< John Bacon, esq^ the oele«
brated sculptor,'' in 1801 ; and that of tiie <^ Rev. John
Newton" in 1808. VoL If. contains bis ^' Miscellanies,^'
Eractical tnictk» pciblished in the course of his life; vol. IIL
is *' Serniions," and vol. IV, bis ^^ Remains,'^ consisting
of remarks made by Mr. Cecil in conversation with the
editor (the rev* Josiah Pratt, B. D«) or in discussions when
he was present, with an appendix communicated by some
friends. * .
CECILIA (St.)9 the reputed patroness of music, .was a'
B^Bian virgin of distinguished birth, who lived in the
second century. She was eminent for her piety, and bad
vcHBved virginity, but contrary to her inclinations, was
espoused by her parents to a heathen noblenan of the
name of Valerian, whom she is said to hwe kept from her
bed, by informing him that she had an angel appointed to
protect her, and she engaged that Valerian should see this
^ Memoir at above*
3S
CECILIA,
angel, hi case be would prepare himsdf for such a favouf
by becoming, a Christian. .Vaierian consented, saw the
angel, abstained from Cecilia as a wife, and was converted
along with bis brother Tiburtius. Valei'ian and Tiburtius
suffered martyrdom, and Cecilia was honoured witU tba
same death some days after. .These martyrdoms are va^
riously placed under M. Aurelius, between 176 and 180,
and under Alexander Severus, about. 231. The body of
St. Cecilia was found by pope Pascal I. in the cemetery of
a church called by her name, which occurs as early u
the sixth century; and her body and her husband^ s, found
in the same place, were translated in 821 to a. monastery
founded by pope Pascal iu honour of the martyrs Tibur^
tius and Maximus, near the church of St Cecilia in Rome^
usually called in Trastevcre^ to distinguish it from two
others dedicated to the same saint
Musical and other historians have not been able to as^
sign any better reason for honouring St. Cecilia as the pa*
troness of music, than what may be found in her ^^ Acts,'*
which still exist in Surius, but are now considered as of no
authority. Yet as they were credited in more creduloua
times, painters fixed upon organs as the appropriate em*
blem of this saint ; musicians chose her for their patroness^
and poets have described her as the inventress of the or«
gan, and a$. charming angels to leave their celestial spheres^ '
in order to listen to .her harmony^ The earliest notice of
ber as the tutelar saint of music seems to have been in tb^
works of the great painters of the Italian school ; some re^
presenting her as performing on the harp, and others oi^
the organ. Raphael, in his celebrated portrait of the saint^
has placed in her hands a column of organ pipes, or rather
the front of a portable instrument called the regals, which
in Roman catlK>lic times used to be carried, by one persoqk
and played by another in processions. But of the celebra--
tion of her birth-day by assemblies of musicians, we have
been able to discover no instance earlier than the latter end
of the seventeenth century, when there was. a rage a^mong
the votaries of music for celebrating the birth-day of this
saint, November 22, not only in Loiidon, but in all tht^
considerable cities and provincial towns, in the kingdom,
where music was cultivated. Dryden's Ode to St. Ce<^Ui|iM
has led Mr. Malone into a prolix and probably very accu*;
rate history of this saint, and into a chronological account
of aU the great Cecilian festivals held in Loudon from 168^
C £ C I t I: A. ^ aa
to 1 740, with « list of all' the odea^ ^ritti^h ex|>r€»9ly ib^
the celebration of St. Cecilia, by whom written^ aiidbj.
whom set to oiusic. ^ • ?
CEDRENUS (George), a Grecian monk, who lived in
the eleventh century,* wrote annals, or an almdged history,!
from the beginning of the world to the reign :o£ Jsaae.Conv»«
nenus, empercar of Constantinople, who suc^oeededt -Michael
IV. in 1057.' This work is no more than aiicextract fromt
several historians, and cH^iefly from Ge<h^ras SynoeUus/
whose -chronology he has followed from ihe creation to xhet
reign of Dioclesian. Theopbanes is another Jaistorian he
has made use of from DiocWian to Mic^adlrCuropalatbeSi.
The neKt he borrows from is Tbrapesius Soj^iitzes from
Curopalates to his own time. This compiiatton^'. altbmtgh
not executed with much judgoieut, was^prob^biyooce-iti
request. It was translated into Latin .b)?iX3^)imdeir, Basii^
1566, and was again printed at Pliria ih 16147, ^^-vols. folioy
with the Latin version of Xylsgad^, and the. notes. of father
Goar, arDemioican.* , •
CELEIJTJNE V. (Peter), Pope, and the only one of
his>name who seems to deserve much notice, was bohi ini
Apulia about Abe year 123 1^ and lived.as a hermit in a lit^-*
tie cell. He was admitted into holy orders; but after that^:
he lived ^ve years, in a. cate or ' mount* *Mont>ni neat Sal-
viona, where he founds a monastery in 1^74;; The seo
of Rome hating been vacatH two years and three months^
Celestine was unaniqaously chosen pope on^ account of the
fame of his sanctity. The archbishop of Lyons, present-*
ing him with the instrument of his election, conjured hini
to submit to the vocation. ' Feter, in astoriisbment, pro*
strated .himself on the ground : and after he had continued
in prayeir for a considerable time, consented to bis election,-
and took the name of Celestine V. Since the days of the.
first Gregory, no pope had ever assumed (he pontifical-
dignity with more purity of intention. But he had not
Gregory^s talents for business and government; and the^
Roman see was far more corrupt in the thirteenth than it
was in the sixth century. Celestine soon became sensible
of his incapacity. He attempted to reform abuses,- to re«^
trench the luxury of the clergy, to do, in shorty what he
foand totally impracticable. He committed mistakes, astdi
> Biitlflf't Lives of ibe SaiiiU.T«-B«iiiwy «i|d Qiiiiluii8*« Hitt. of M«tlK, • ]
fient Mag. vol. LXIII. p. 25 and 33. . , . .
' I)u{>rii.-**C«y«.— Fabric. Bibl. Gncc— Moreri.
\
M CBLiJSTlNE.
exposed fainiMlf to ridieule. Hb conscieticey in the meatf
thiie^ :wa9 kept^n the rack through « variety of scruples/
from which be could not extricate hiniself; and from his •
ignorance of the world and of canon law, he began to think '
be had done wMngin accepting the office. He spent muchf
of hift ttttie in retirement ; nor was he easy there, becatiso^
his conscience told him, that he ought to be discharging '
the pattorat office. > In this dilemma he consulted cardinal ,
Cajetan, wha toldhim -he might abdicate, which he accord*
inglydid in l^d4/after having endeavoured to support the '
nmk of pope for only four or five months, and before bia
abdication lAade a constitution that the pontiff might be
allowed to abdicate, if he pleased ; but there ba^ been no
example: since of any pope taking the benefit of this con^
stitation. Caj^tan succeeded him under the tit)e>of Boni^
^ceVIIL and frntiiediately imprisoned hittiin' th^ casttor
of Fumone, lest h^ should revoke his resignation, aUhougU
nothing wn moie improbable, and treated him ^ith stich
harshness as brought him fo bis grave, after' ten 'months
imprisenment,. in 1-296. Clement V. canotiifzed him'in
1313. Several of his << Opuscula*' are in the BiM. Pa^
trum. The order of the Ceiestins, vAath takes its ntfioe
from him, still subsists. '
iC£LLARIUS (CHaiSTOFHEa), an eminent critic ami
geographer, was bom 1638, at Smalcalde, a littli^ town in
Franconia, where his father was minister His mother^
Mary Zehners, was daughter of the famous divine, Joilchim
Zehners, He came of a family in which learning seems t^
have been hereditary. When three years old, be hsKl the
misfortune to lose his father, but his mothetr look care of
his education. He began his studies in the college of Smaf-^
<;alde, and at eighteen was removed to Jena, to finish faia
studies in that university. During a residence^ of three
years in this, place, he applied to classical learning under '
Bosius, to pbitosopby under Bechman, to the Oriental
languages under Frischmutb, and to mathematics under :
Weigelius. In 1659 he quitted Jena to go to Giessen, ta
study divinity under Peter Haberkorn. He afterwards re«
turned to Jena, and took a doctor^s degree there in 1666.^
The year following he was made professor of Hebrew and
il philosophy at Weisseafels, in which office he con**'*
I Milaer'9 Cborch Hbt ToL IV. p« SS.-<->Ditpii«^Bow«r't Lives of the Popes.
-PUtina.— Mor«ri.
c EL L A It I u a St
tioaed &r serea ycani In 1693 he was eatledlo Weimar,
to be rector of the college there, which, at the end of three
years, he exchanged for a similar tank ^t Zeits. After
Uifo years stay here, the college of Menbourg was offered
to lum^ wbicli he accepted. His teaming, his abilities,
aod his diligence, sopn rendered this college famous^ and
drev a great number of studtsnts; and the place was sa
agreeable to him, that.be determined to end his days there ^
bat Providence dtspoaed ef> him otherwise. - For the king
ofPrusda, having foniided an university at} Halle in 1693,
prerailed upon him to be .pvofassor of eloquenoeand his-
tory ia it, and here he ^composed a great part of his wbrks/
Uis great application. shortened his days, and hastened otr
the -infiroaities of old age. He was a tpng time afflicft^
eith the tstone* but -never oould b^ persuaded to seek as-
sistance'fitom medicine. He died, 1707, in hk sixty iilinth'
yean. u. • .-...-. .......
He puiblished good editions of aboy'e twettty Latin and-
Gjteek authors ; and should we give a eonipleto catalogue'
ofkis own wofks, it would shew an aslotiisbing example'
of literacy industry. But although he was- a vety volu-*
mioous writer^ he publisrhed nothing in -baSte, and nothing"
but what was^ in general correct and useful. His works
lalate chiefly to grammar, to geography, K^ history, and
to the Oriental langmsge^. As they are so v^ry numerous,
we shall only mention some of the mo^t coiisiderable : 1.
''A Latin Grammar,^' in German, 1689, 8Vq. ' 2;;'< Anti*
barbarasLatious, sive de Latiaitate mediae et infimse Wtatis,^*
1^77, .12mo. iB^ffore he published this book^ Olaus Bor-
lifthtus bad published, at C<:^nhagen, a work entitled
'^Cogitationes' de vaiiis linguao Latinse setatibus, Slc^
which. Cellarios. having not seen, and reading afterwards,
wa$' the occasion of his making an addition to his own, un-^'
4er the title of, 3, ^^ Carte posteriores de barbarismis et
Idiotismta sermonis Latini/' 16^6, 12mo. 4. '^Ofthogra*
pbia Latina ex feiusftis monwnentis, hoc est nummis, mar-*
auuribus, &c. eTCcerpta, digesta, novisque observationibus
illufttrata," i700y Svo. 5% << Historia universalis breviter'
sc perspicue exposita^ 'm antiquam et medii sBvi ac novam
dwisa, cuaa'notis perpetuis,'* 1703, S vols. i2mo. 6. ^Col-
lectanea Historic Samaritanae, quotquot inveniri potue*
tunt,*' 1688, >4to. He had a design cvf writing a complete
history of the Samaritans ; but for want of materials was
forced to give it up. He collected, however, in this work^
\
*• ,
S8 CELLAAiaS.
what be couldifind relatiag tit) dieir manners^ retigtoii, b^
7. *^ Hi^toria getilis & reltgionis <Saniaritatie ex . dovb;
Slchemi^um epistcda ancta/* 169d, ;4to. 8^. <f Giamna**'
^ca H^brsea in tabudis synopttcis una Ciun confiilio 24 bona:
disc^pdi.linguam saaotaoo.'* To .which he. added, f^ Aab*-
biti^saius,, siye inititHtio. graminaUca pro legendis Rabbina*^
rum scriptis/^ 1684, 4to* 9. .'^ Ganouesde lingoie sanctia>
idiotismis," 1{679, 4to. 10. <' Sciagraphia phiblogi® sa-*.
^rae, cum etjfmologtco vadicum depfiitditaKum exaltis lia-»
guis, Arabic^i . praBsertim^ restiuitarum/' 167d, .4to. ll.»
^^ Chaldaismus, sive grammatica nova Ungum Chaldaicas,''
&c. 1685, 4to. 12> ^^ Porta Syiise, aive grammatica Sy«».
rkca/' 1684, 4to. 13. 'f Horn S«unaritayaB,V &c i682^
4to. 14. ^^ Isagoge.in lioguam Arabidam/' 1686^ 4to.
. His works in geography are well.^kliown, as esoellent?
})^lp» to the uadierstancling of. ancient anthers. .• His .-^^ No-:'.
titia Orbis Antiqui/' was published at Cambridge in 170^^;
!} vols. 4 to, ai)d Leipsic, 1731. And a sixth editicm of
the abridgement^ by Patrick, was published at Londoiv
in 1731 ; but for a more particular account of ttie> aHthar>
and bis works,, the reader may be referred to J. G. Wal-*
cjiius^s/^i^course of his life and writings, prefixed to baa
<< Dissertationes Academicse,'* published at Leipsic, 1712^
8vo» This volume alone would have been sufficient t»:
have procured him a considerable name in the learned:
world. Tt^e principal classics, &c. edited by >hilD:are,-
<5 Ciceronis Epist. att Familiares;'' " Plinii Epist ;'^ "Cprn;*
Nepos;" fVQuintus Curtius;'' "Eutr<^ius;" *fSextua
Rufus;" <* Velleius, Paterculu*;" " Duod. Panegyr. , A»4
tiq.;" "Lactantius;" ^' Minutius Felix;" f* St .Cypriao-i
de Vanit. ldoLj"-"Sedulius;'* « Prudenties VV >« Silina*
Italicusj" « PiciMirandulEpist;" « Zoaimus;" "Paaaniw
us ;'* the ^* Thesaurus of Jaber,^' with large additions, y '
.CELLIER (R^Mi), a voluminouH French. biqgvapher,/
lyas born at Bar-le-duc in 1688, and was soon noted for;
learning and piety. He attached himself to thecongrega* *
tion of the Benedictines of St. Vanne and St. Hidulpbe^
and after he took the habit of that order, was intrusted
with various business belonging to it, and became titular,
prior of Flavigni. He died in 1761. He published ^^His-
tpire generale desauteurs sacresetecclesiastiqaes,." 1729—^.
1768, 23 vols. 4to, containing their lives, a. critical. ac«^
1 Life by Wald^ at above.— Moreri.
C E E t r E Ri 33
count of tbeir works^ the history of councils, &c. Tbia
compilation is accurate, rather ^more so, his countrymea
think, than that of Dupin ^ but be had not Oupin^s art of
arranging and compressing, nor, we suspect, his candour.
That it is diffuse beyond all patience appearis from these
tnrenty-tbree volumes extending no farther than the time'
of St. Bernard in the twelfth century. His numerous ex*
tracts and translations are, however, useful to those who
cannot read the fathers in the original languages. In 1782
ah index to. this work was published at Paris, 2 vols. 4to,
a proof that the work still holds its reputation. His only
other publication was ^^ Apologie de la Morale des Peres
contre Bai-beyrac,'^ 1718, 4to, a learned treatise badly
written. Cellier was fond of retiren^ent and study, and
cbnciliated the affections of his brethren by bis amiable
pergonal character. ^
Cellini (Benvenuto), a celebrated sculptor and en-
graver of Florence, was horn in 1500, and intended to be
trained to music ; but, at fifteen years of age, bound nim-"
s^lf,' contrary to bis fatber^s inclinations, apprentice to a
jewelTeV an J goldsmith, under wbona he made such a pro-
gress, as presently to rival the most skilful in the business* .
He had also a turn for other arts : and in particular an
early taste for drawing and^ designings which he afterwards
coltivated. Nor did he neglect music^ but must have ex*
celled in some degree in it; for, assisting at a concert before
Clement VII. that pope took him into his> service, in the
double capacity of goldsmith and musician. He applied
himself also to seal-engraving, learned to make curious da^
maskeenings of steel and silver on Turkish daggers, &c. and
was very ingenious in medals and rings. But Cellini excel-
led in arms, as well as in arts ; and Clement VII. valued him.
as mu^ for his bravery as for his skill in his profes3ion.
Wh^h the duke of Bourbon laid siege to Rome, and the city
was taken and plundered, the pope committed the castle oJF
St. Angelo to Cellini ; who defended it like a man bred to
anbs^ and <tid not suffer it to surrender but by capitulation*
Meahwbile, Cellini was one of those great wits, who
may truly be said to have bordered upon madness ; he was'
of- a* desultory, . capricious, unequal humourj^ which in-
volved him perpetually in adventures that often threat-
ened to prove fatal to him. He travelled among the cities
1 Diet. Hi»t.
Vol. IX. D
3* CELLINI.
of Italy, but chiefly resided at Rome ; where he was some«
times in favour with the great, and sometimes out. He
consorted with ^11 the first artists in their several ways, with
Michael Angelo, Julio Romano, &c. Finding himself at
length upon ill terms iu Italy, he formed a resolution of
going to France ; and, passing from Rome through Flo-,
rence, fiologna, and Venice, he arrived at Padua, where
he was most kindly received by, and made some stay with,
the famous Pietro Bembo. From Padua he travelled
through Swisserland, visited Geneva in his way to Lyons,
and, after resting a few days in this last city, arrived safe
at Paris. He met with a gracious reception from Francis I.
who would have taken him into his service ; but, conceiv-
ing a dislike to France from a sudden illness he fell into
there, he returned to Italy. He was scarcely arrived,
when, being accused of having robbed the castle of St.
Angelo of a great treasure at the time that Rome was
sacked by the Spaniards, he was arrested and sent pri-
soner thither. When set at liberty, after many hardships
and difficulties, he entered into the service of the French
king, and set out with the cardinal of Ferrara.for Paris :
where when they arrived, being highly disgusted at the
cardinaPs proposing what he thought an inconsiderable
salary, he abruptly undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
He was, however, pursued and brought back to the king,
who settled a handsome salary upon him, assigned him a
house to work in at Paris, and granted him shortly after a
naturalization. > But here, getting as usual into scrapes
and quarrels, and particularly having offended madame
d^Estampes, the king's mistress, he was exposed to endless
troubles and persecutions; with which at length being
wearied out, he obtained the king's permission to return
to Italy, and went to Florence; where he was kindly' re-
ceived by Cosmo de Medici, the grand duke, and engaged
himself jjif his service. Here again, disgusted with some
of the duke's servants (for he could not accommodate him*
•self to, or agree with, any body), he took a trip to Venice,
where he was greatly caressed by Titian, Sansovino, and
other ingenious artists ; but, after a short stay, returned t6
Florence, and resumed his business. He died in 1570*
Bis life was translated into English by Dr. Nugent, and
pubJished in 1771, 2 vols. 8vo, with this title: *^ The Life
of Benevenuto Cellini, a ]f lorentine artist ; containing a
variety pf^urious aqd interestii>g particulars relative to
C E L L I ^ L si
painting, sculpture, and architecture, ahd the history 'of
his own time.** The original, written iti the Tuscan lani
guage, lay iti manuscript above a century and a half.
Though it was read with the greatest pl^afeiire hy the
leamea of Italy, no man was hardy enough, during this
Jong period, to Introduce to the world a bodkj in which'
the successors of St. Peter were handled so I'oughly ;
a narrative, where artists and sovereign prinfces, cardi-
nals and courtezans, ministers of state and mechanics^
are treated with equal impartiality. At length, in it 30^
an enterprising Neapolitan, encouraged by Dr. Antonio
Cocchi, one of the ^politest scholars in Europe, published
it in one vol. 4to, but it soon was prohibited, and became
scarce. According to his own account, Cellini was at ohce
a man of pleasure and a slave to superstition ; a despisec
of vulgar notions, and a believer in magical incantations J
« fighter of duels, and a composer of divine sonnets ; aa
ardent lover of truth, and a retailer of visionary faricies ;
an admirer of papal power, and a hater of popes; ah
offeHder against the laws, with a strong reliance on divine
providence. Such heterogeneous mixtures, however, ge-
nerally form an amusing book, and Cellini's life is amus*.
ing and interesting in a very high degree. It must not,
however, he omitted, that Cellini published two treatises
4)n the subject of his art, " Duo trattati, uno intorno alle
4)tto prihcipali arti delP oreficiera, Paltro in materia dell*
arte della scoltura," &c. 1568, 4to.*
^ CELS (James Martin), a French botanist, and membet
of the Institute, was born at Versailles in 1745, and having
,be^n early introduced into the office of one of the farmers-
general, acquired the once lucrative place of receiver*
Amidst the duties of this office, he found leisure for study^
tad became so fond of books, as to attempt a new arrange-^
ment of libraries, which he published in 1773,'n»nder the
tijle of " Coup-d*ceil eclair6 d'une grande bibliotheque a
J'osage de tout possesseur de livres," 8vo. He became
also partial to the study of botany, and formed an exten-
sive botanical garden, which he enriched by correspon-
dence and exchanges with other horticulturists. When
the revolution took place, he retired to the village of '
Montrouge near Paris, and coiifined himself enti?tly to
'^iJ^ *• above.--Sir JoHn Hawltins^t edit, of Johaioa'i worki, vol. IX.
$& • € E L S.
thp cuJUy*tioiit and, selUag. of: plants. The; pmncipal vnorks
o^.d^fO'jpture.bot;^^y, wbicj;) hayei appjejaoed in Fi^oce, as
thpse of QierQtier^ PQpapdpUe, Redout^^ &c^ have been.
ivtd^bjiQd to bis; a^sbtwce ; but ib is to VentenatthaA; Cek?
fiifxice^fiuoe will bed u0r, who published, the '"'De^criptipft
de? pjaptes. rare dm jardia dt*. At CeU/* QeU died. Mayi
13,. 1&Q6. >
CJEJLSUS.. (Aua^uuA Corj^elius),, an. ancient and cle-
^;fijQA.iifriter.oiL.tbe.subject of physic, flourished in the 6rst
c^t^y,, under the^reigns; of. Augustus anflTibj^rius; but
<^ ^.9, personal history, hlsfa^mily, or even bis profession,,
M^e know; little. It? ha^ been- dpubted. wbe^hpf bft practisedK
Physic,, but without th^ experience ari^ng . from, practice,.
i|:. is difScult.tQ conceive how he could have. so. accurately.,
d^^ribed diseases and given tbe remedies. Dn Freind^
who studM bis works with, great: ajttcntion^ decicies in far
vour of his having pr»acti§ed, and agrees wkh- Le Clerc.
thpjt.he. was, a Bx^n^a^ by birth, and probably of the Corne-
Ua^ fao^Ly. Vie. is;, said ta have, wjritten on> rhetoric and .
c^ber si^bjects.; but hi3."I)e: Mediciuia libri octo,," oa
which -his. f^Rip rests,, is the, only, work now remaining^ and
hasrgpn 6; through a>gi!eat number of editions.. The surgi-
cal, part i^ most esteemed as . coiprespondlng nearest to the
present practice ; bat the, whp^ is written in ar style so
pi^^ and elegant, as to entitle him to a plape among the
liatin^ classics. Dr. Clarke, has enumerated nearly forty
editions, the best of which ara thought to be Almeloveen^s,
Fadna, 1722, 8yo, reprinted in 1750, and one by Krause,
Lpjpsic, 1766, 8 vo, with the. notes of Scaliger, Casaubon^.
Almeloveen,; IVJjorgagni,, &c. ta wJiich we may add a very
recent editipn.. published, at' Edinburgh ^nd London, in
1809, 8 vo. In 1756,. an English, translation, with, notes,. '
was publish^ by Dr. Grieve, the historian of Kamshatka.- .
Ashortabridgenvent of rhetoric, " De arte dicepdi,'* at-
tributed to Celsus, wjas first published at. Cologne in 1569,
8vo, and is inserted in the BibL Lat of Fabricius, but it is'
generally thought to have been the production of Julius
Severianus, *
CELSUS, a celebrated philosopher of the Epicurean
sept, flouri3hed in the second century under Adrian and
Aptoniqus Pius, and is tbe person to whom Lucian has
1 Diet Hist « Ffciiid'8 Hi5t of.Ph^sic-^HalUr Bib). Mcd,.ct ChifUfg,
-•►Moreri.— fiaxii Onoma.'iticon^ kc, , ,
"t! E'i.'aV 'S. 37
thre afgalnst the 'Ctofeti«ft *ti\ip6ti, Hihdiefr the t*(te bf
"The 'true 'Wbrii," i^hicfh Wk& ktm^e^ by Ori^n ^it5i
Jpreat ability in a frotk consisting ef tight bodks. His << ^Ptue
Word*' is lost ; bitt hife dbjedticnis against Cteistfcariity tt(a:y
be known frdm libe et«ftracts whitfh are ptenetveA <rf it fn
Origen^s answer. !k is agtecid ^on all ^htfnfts, that Ite Wte 'a
most sobfle adversary, ^perfectly vei^sed in all -ihfe ttrt^ '6f
'Gfontroversy, and as iearneil as ;be Wste ingeriious : so that
it IB no wonAesr if the prhnitiVe Chtii^tians thought ndthiKig
less than ^udb a cfaatnpion as Origen "sl fftartch ^iPbr hiitt.
ATthoxigh he sometiriies re'ctrrs to QPlatanic and Stoic tnodes
of reasonitrg, lie is exptessly rai/ked by Ludan, as wefl ais
t>rigen, antong tlie Epicureans ; and this isuppositidn best
aeeotitits for tte tiolence wiA which he oppos'ed ttie <5hris-
tian teKgion ; for an Epicurean would of course reject,
without examination, vSl pretensions to divine communl-
tiations xjt powers. Yet his hostility, or iftre great pains hfe
took tx> Ai^ipfoy it, affords sonie^trotigtestioionres infavbti'r
of the ChriBtian religion, as may be seen in Ltirdn^r, and
other writers. *
CELTKS (Oonhad), a Larin poet, called also Pirotu-
cms and MEissfei^ was bom at Sweinftirt tiear Wertzbilr^
in 145*^, and died at Vienna iti 1508^ iafter haVitig gained
the potftic laured. He has left, 1. **pdes,*' Strasburg,
l^lS, Svo. 2. ** Ei^Tgiranis,'* and apoein on the manneris
of the Gtermans, 5(610, «vto. S. * An 'historical accpunt
of th^ dity of Nuretnbefg,^' Strasbarg, 1513, 4't6; atid
various ottrer WoAs, enutnei*'atfed by Morefi, aft tn Latin.
Be was not deficient in the sallies of imagln^tioln, though
not exempt ft-om the deflects of the age in which he wrotd.
He i* censurable for neg<ig^nte in poilit of style, and with
preferring eentiments motie for their brilliahcy than theiir
solidity. His four books in elegiac verse, on the same
nmnber of mistresses h^ boasb to nave hud, were published
at Nurctaberg in 1 5i04, 4'to. This volume is scarce. The
emperor Maximilian made him his librarian, and granted
him the privilege of conferring the poetic crown on whom-
soever he judged worthy of it. •
GENE. See LE CENE.
CENSOHINUS, a celebrated critic, chronologer, iahti-
quary, and gtanimarian, for such Ptiscian calls him, Sou-
* ■ >
* Lardner's Worki, toI. VIII.-^-Dupin.— Bru(^er.-*-Mo5heiQi.— «Cavf.
?8 C E N S O R I N U S.
risbed ^t Rome iii the time of Alexander Severus, and ia
§uppQse4 to have been of the Martian family. Hi& talents
as , a grammarian appear only in his book ^^ concerning
Accents," frequently cited by Sidonius ApoUinaris, and
other things, which are lost ; and not in his *^ De die
patali," which is the only piece remaining of him. This
treatise was written about the year 238, and dedicated to
Quintus Cerellius, ^ Roman of the equestrian order, of
^hom he speaks very highly in bis 15tb chapter. Vossius,
in one place, calls this *^ a little book of gold ;" and,j in
another, declares it to be " a most learned work, s^nd of
the highest use and importance to chronologers, since it
connects and determines with great exactness some princi-
pal asras in history.'* It is however a work of a miscellane-
ous nature, and treats of antiquities as well as chronology.
It was printed at Han^bargh in 1614, with a commentary
by Lindenbrog, \vhose notes were adopted afterwards in
an edition printed at Cambridge, in 1695; and there is
an edition by Hav^rcamp, 1743,^ reprinted ^t Leydei\, 1767,
Svo. Sir Jol^n Hawkins has translate4 Censorinu^'s re-
marks on music, which are curious. ^
CENTLIVRE (Susannah), an ingenious dramatic wri-
ter, was daughter of Mr. Freeman, a gentleman of Hol-
beach in Lincolnshire, and was born about the yeair 1667*
Her father had been possessed of an estate of no inco/v-
;^iderable value ; but being a dissenter, and having disco-
vered a jealous attachment to the cause of the parliament,
was at the restoration under a necessity of flying into Ire-
'land^ and his estate was confiscated. Our poetesses mother
was daughter of Mr. Markham, a gentleman of fortune at
Lynn Regis in Norfolk, who is represented as having en-
countered similar misfortyn^s with those of Mr. Free-
man, in consequence of his political principles, which
were the same wit^i those of that gentleman, and he
also was obliged tp take refuge in Ireland^ The subject
of this article i^ asserted to have been born in Lincoln-
shire; but some have conjectured that she was born in
Ireland, which may, not improbably, have been the cas^,
if her birth was so late as ] 667. The editor, ho\rever, of
sir James Ware^s Works does not claim her as an Irish
writer. She had the unhappiness to lose her father before
she was three years old, and her mother before she lia^
completed her twelfth year. At an early period she dis-«
} M^rtri.— 'Diet llj9t,«»Hair]uas'8 Hist, of Mttsit.r-«Saxu Oi>«fiiaitico|i,
CENTLIVRE. %9
covered a propensity to poetry, and is said to have written
a song before she was seven years old.
Being harshly treated by those to whose care she wa$
committed after the death of her mother, she resolved,
whilst very young, to quit the country, and to go up to
London to seek her fortune. The circumstances of her life
at this period are involved in much obscurity, and the par- «
ticulars which are related seem somewhat romantic. It is
said that she attempted her journey to the capital alone,
and on foot, and on her way thither was met by Anthony
Hammond, esq. father of the author of the " Love Ele-
gies." This gentleman, who was then a member of the
university of Cambridge, was struck with her youth and
beauty, and offered to take her under his protection. Her
distress and inexperience inducing her to comply with bis
proposal, she accompanied him to Cambridge, where,
iiaving equipped her in boy's clothes, 4ie introduced her
to his intimates at college, as a relation who was come
down to see the university, and to pass some time with
him. Under this disguise an amorous intercourse was car-
ried on between them for some months; but at lengthy
being probably apprehensive that the affair would become
known in the university, he persuaded her to go to Lon-
don. He provided her, however, with a considerable sum
of money, and recommended her by letter to a lady in
town with whom he was acquainted. He assured her at
the same time, that he would speedily follow her^ and re-
new their connection. This promise appears not to have
been performed : but notwithstanding her unfavourable in-
troduction into life, she was married in her sixteenth year
to a nephew of sir Stephen Fox, who did not live more
than a twelvemonth after their marriage ; but her wit a,ad
personal attractions soon procured her another husband,
whose name was Carrol, who was an officer in the army,
but who was killed in a duel about a year and a half after
their marriage, when she became a second time a widow
•She is represented as having a sincere attachment to Mr.
Carrol, and consequently as having felt his loss as a severe
affliction.
. It.was at this period of her life that she commenced dra-
matic author ; to which she wa^ probably in some degree
induped by the narrowness other circumstanceau Some of
her earlier pieces were published under the name of Cay-
roK Her first attempt was in tragedy, in ^ play called
" The Perjured Hdsband/' which was performed atDrury-
4a CENTLIVRj:.
lane Theatre in 1700, and published in 4to the saine
yeiar. In 1703, she produced ** The Beau's Duel, or a
Soldier for the Ladie^, a comedy ;'* and " Love's Contri-
vances,'^ which is chiefly a translation from Moliere; ai^d
the following year another comedy, entitled " The Stolen
Heiress, or the Salamanca Doctor outwitted." In 1705,
ber comedy of " The Gamester" was acted at Lincoln's-
inn-fields, which met with considerable success, and has
since been revived at DruryJane. The plot of this piece
was chiefly borrowed from a French comedy, called ** Le
Dissipateur." The Prologue was written by Mr. Rowe.
Her attachment to the theatre was so great, that she
not only distinguished herself as a writer for it, but also
became a performer on it; though she probably did not
attain to any great merit as an actress, as she fieems never
to have played at the theatres of the metropolis. But in
1706, we are told, she performed the part of Alexander
the Great, in Lee's Rival Queens, at Windsor, where thp
court then' was; and in this heroic character, st\e made
so powerful an impression upon the heart of Mr. Joseph
Centlivre, yeoman of the mouth, or principal c^olt to
queen Anne, that he soon after married her, and with hiqi
she lived happily till her death.
The same year in which she married Mr, Centlivre, she
produced the comedies of the " Basset-table," and ** Love-
at a venture." The latter was acted by the duke of Graf-
ton's servants, at the new theatre at Bath. In 1708, ber
most celebrated performance, " The Busy Body," was
acted at Drury-lane theatre. It met at first with so un-
favourable a reception from the players, that for a . time
they even refused to act in it, and were not prevailed upon
to comply till towards the close of the season ; and even
then Mr. Wilks shewed so much contempt for the part of
air George Airy^ as to throw it down on the stage, at the
rehearsal, with a declaration, ^' that no audience would
endure such stuff." But the piece was received with the
greatest applause by the audience, and still keeps posses-
sion of the stage. In 1711, she brought on at Drury-lane
theatre, ** Marplot, or the second part t)f the Busy Body."
This play, though much inferior to the former, met widi
a favourable reception ; and the duke of Portland, to whom
it was dedicated, made Mrs. Centlivre a present of forty
guineas. Her comedy of " A Bold Stroke for a Wife,'*
was performed at Lincoln's-Inn Fields in 1717. She was
assisted in this play by Mr. Mottley, who wrote a scene Qr
G £ N ^ ^ / V ^ B. 4a
tm fin%pE^y^ JL wits .exttemeiy nejIX rfcetv^^ ^^A 9 )Still
ireguently jxerfowted^ tbovigh Mr. Wilks .b^ sd^ {^t4F-
,tauie4 <a vei:y 4iQfavaurab)e op^^a ,of it. jponde^ ^de
«|iich Jbftye fa^eii jJr^f^dy ,qieati9f>ed, «sbe also jprodiiQeil
i^areral other ^^aoiatic {pieces, ^nus^er^d M ^ SiifH
^pbia Drs^o^tjicfi.
Mrs. C^atlivr^ .eiypy^ed, fqr ,mapy yr6fwrs, tfce iutiwicy
^d esteepa.of ^Q^nexi^ xhe «aQst eminent wits. of the^t^mt,
jmrticularly sir Bicbard Stqale, Mr. ^we, JDr. Sa.well^ #nd
Mr. Farqu^ar. .fu^taQe Qudgell was -^l^o jof the niio^r
of ik^ acq^aii^ance. But ^be bad tbe miijfbiauQe to ioqiyr
.the displeasure of Mr. Pope, w^o introduced ber into ibe
])uM[iciad, for baviiig writtien 41 bal|lad agai\>st bis H^mer.
$he died ifi SprAi;ig-^gardeny cCbaring.->cA>ss, on tbe'^ir^t ntf
Decefxjk&c^ 1723, and ivas b^ri^d ^ St Martinis in tbe
jFidds. Sbe ^posse^ed a considerable share of be^Mi^y^ »^iis
oi a friendly and beuev^ql^nt dispo^iti^n^ -^nd in co^ensar
iioa was uprightly a^4 en4;er4;aiuing. tier lixe^d^y §c%m9if
tio\^& app^ear tQ ba«ve heeja ij^ereLy tbe r<esjult of ber qw» »pr-
plication ; hm sbe is &npj])Ofed to biaTe ui^derstood the
jFrench, I^uitcb^ and Spanish iangiu^e^ ^qd tp Ip^a^e bad
soiAe^i;io\i^ledge <lf tbe Latii^. An extensive ^cqii^int^tnoe
with men and -ipanners is e?cbibited in iher dramatic wri-
tings; but they at/e sonxetim^s justly qeiniriirable for timt
bcentiou^^ess. In 1761, ber draijnatic wc^ks were cpK
iect^d together, and printed in tbre^ volumes l^mo. She
was also the author of 5' several copies of verses on diven
subjects and oc^ca^iop^, and ipany ing<enious letters, en^-
titled, Letters of Wit, Politics, a^nd Morality," which were
collected and pijibUsbed by Mr. Boypr. ^
CENTO RIO (AsfiAmm), of an illnstrious faqaily of
MiI«M), but prpgipaily of Romp, bore arnis in the sixteenth
century, in wbicb be i^ras as much the philosopher as tbe
soldier. He tool^ advantage of the leisure afforded him by
tbe p/^ace, to xefiufc^ to pr4er 4^e military and historical
memoirs be bad^Uected during sthe tumult of war. They
ve very mmcb e^eem^d in Italy^ not less for their escel*
knee than their r^ity* They ap^peared at Venice in
1565 and 1569, in 2 vols. 4tO!, commonly bound in one;
Tiie former, .in six books, treats of the wars of TransUva^
ni?, and the other of thos^ of bi^ time in eigbt books. He'
wrote also some poems, and treatises on the military art^
ip Italian apd Latin. '
I Siog. Beit.— <;ibber'8 Lives. « Diet Hist— Haym BibL Ital.
•'
42 C E R A T I N U S.
CERATINUS (James), whose family name was Teyttg,
which he exchanged for Ceratinus, from uifog, horn, an
ttUnsion to Horn or Hoorn in Holland, was born there in
the beginning of the sixteenth century. It appears from
Erasmus's letters, that he thought Ceratinus one of the
most profound scholars in Greek and Latin which the age
afforded ; yet, when he came to be ordained priest at
Utrecht, he was rejected for ignorance of the rules of
grammar ; but when the examiners understood that he had
given superior proofs of learning, they re-called him,
pleaded that they were obliged to certain forms in their
examination, and granted him letters of ordination. On
the recommendation of Erasmus, George, elector of Sax*-
ony, appointed him to succeed Mosellanus in his profes-
sorship at Leipsic ; and on this occasion Erasmus declared
that he was worth, in point of learning, ten such as Mo-
sellanus. He was also offered the Greek professorship in
the college of three languages at Louvain. At Leipsic he
did not meet with the reception he deserved, owing to its
being suspected that he had imbibed Lutheran principles*
He died at Louvain April 10, 1530, in the flower of his
age. His works were, A very elegant translation of
Chrysostom's " Treatise concerning the Priesthood ;'* art
improved edition of the " Graeco- Latin Lexicon/* printed
by Froben, in 1524, with a preface by Erasmus; and a
treatise " De Sono Greecarum Literarum," printed in 1 529,
Svo, with a dialogue from the pen of Erasmus on pronun^
ciation. These were reprinted by Havercarop in . his
*5 Sylloge Scriptorum,'* or collection of commentators ott
the pronunciation of the Greek, Leyden, 1736. *
CERCEAU (John Antony du), a French Jesuit, was
born at Paris in 1670, and was early distinguished by
spirit, vivacity, and a turn for poetry, which, while he
wrote in Latin, procured him considerable repntatioiK
This, however, he forfeited by his French verses, in imi-
tation of Marot, in which he mistook burlesque and trifling,
for the fdmiliar and simple. He wrote also some theatrical
pieces of an inferior order; but was more successful in his
** Defense de la Poesie Francoise,^' and other dissertations
on the same subject He wrote also, 1. " L*Histoire d6
Thamas Kouli-Kan^ sopbi de Perse,'' Amsterdam, 1741',
» Morcri. — Geo. Diet.— Foppen BibI, Be1{p.--Baillet Jugemens.-^Jortin'a
^rfisnias. ^
C E K C E A U. 43
«f
2 vols, 12mo« 2. ^< Histoire de la Conjuration de RienzV
12mo, which was completed by father Brumoy. S. A cri-
ticism on the abb6 Boileau's *^ History of the Flagellants.**
fie contributed also a great many papers to the Journal de
TrevouXy and was long engaged in a controversy with one
of the authors of the Journal des Savans, occasioned by
two dissertations printed at the end of the second volume
of Sannadon's Horace, relative to a passage in Horace
concerning the music of the ancients. This produced from
Cerceau some valuable essays on the subject His Latin
poetry was published in 1696, 12mo, under the title
^^ Varia de variis argumentis Carmina a multis e societate
Jesii." The other authors in this volume are Vaniere and
Tarillon. In 1807, his dramatic pieces were reprinted at
Paris, in 3 vols. 18mo, under the title ^^ Theatre k T usage
des colleges.'' He died suddenly in 1730, atVeret, near
Tours. '
CERDA (John Lewis), a Spanish Jesuit, and native of
Toledo, who entered among the Jesuits in 1574, was a
man of great learning, and, as his brethren have repre-
sented him, of as great simplicity and candour. He distin-
guished himself by several productions ; and the fame of
his parts and learning was so great, that Urban VIIL is
said to have had hia picture in his cabinet; and, when that
pope sent his nephew cardinal Barberini ambassador into
Spain, it was part of his business to pay Cerda a visit, and
to assure him of the pope's esteem. Cerda's ^* Commen-
taries upon Virgil," Paris, 1624 — 1641, 3 vols. fol. con-
tain many useful and learned remarks, buried, however,
in a multitude of what are superfluous and trifling. Bailiet
says, there are some good things in them, and some very
inoderate. His Commentaries upon the works of " Tel*-
tullian," begun in 2 vols, but not flnished, have not been
so much esteemed; Dupin says, they are long and te-
dious, full* of digressions and explications of passages
which are too clear to need any explaining. There is also
P.f CerdaVs a volume of " Adversaria Sacra," printed in
folio at Lyons, inl626. He died in 1643, aged above 80.*
CERDO, a &mous Heresiarch, who lived at the end of
the first, or beginning of the second century, is said to
bave maintaiBei the existence of i^wo gods, one good, the
Preator of heaven, the other bad, and Creator of the
«
} Moreri.-rDtcL Bjjfkt 9 Moreri. — Dopin.
A^ c « a s> o.
eeoxtb 9 tto^bavie reacted ^iie lw!9 ibe prophets, and iU tlie
New Testament, e^qit pnvt of Sit. lAi)ie'« iffo^pfAj uttd
.«Qme of St P^ufs ^i»tle«. He is dd^o aaid no bAMehemk
JAaccion'9 master ^^ but k ris oiucfa mope probdble tkat ihe
yv^ only liis 4i8cifile, if, i^ is «taened, be taught ftbattfaie
lody .assumed by ^/e&ns Christ «iias.a<pfaamoin, i. e. on i^-
i)areat body^ but ii«t » neal lone, ^oomposed of Aedk md
l)one9 lijbe ibe JbunM^n body; «Md aU the avcient witers
.c41 Mardou the autjbor lof ibb hecesy. Tfa^ repovt af
Cer^to^s baviag i^e^^acted k\»j&ft^KCs 15 doubted iby Xardmer,
who gives a very .^Map^lie s^oooant Kof ibiai aad his epimoos. ^
CEBjNTHUSy.aQ anoi«otfaeoeitic,ivias contem^vary with
^t. John tow9T48 ^he .end of the /firait, imt «be oomtnenoe*
4neat of tbe^eGOud <)eotwry. fie as said itn have beeu a
Jeiy, educated at Alexandria, but uesident ai AofUock.
Authors differ as tp hi^ fatral character, but . Dr. Lardaer
has found nothing of a vicious kind imputed to him. With
respect to liis o{Nnioits,.he asoiribed the creatien of the
world, and <thp legislatMre of tbe Jews, to^ cveatei Saueing,
virho derived from the SupreiMe .God jextcaordinaffy vir-
tues ajDid powers, but afterwards . hecane apostate attd
degraded. He si^posed that Jeans was a mere nan,
born of Joseph am Mary ; but that, in his baptism, the
Holy Ghost, or the Cbrist, who was ooe of the ^oos, de-
scended upon him in the form of a dove ; and that iie wos
commissioned to oppose the degenerate god of the Jeivs,
aod to destroy his empire, hi consequence of which, by
bis instigajtioo, the man Jesas was seized smd cracified^
but Christ ascended up on high, without suffering at aii^
He recoinmended to bis followers the worship of tbe Su^
pxeipe God in conjunction with his Son ; he required tfaeon
to abandon the lawgiver of the Jews ; and though they
were permitted to retain circumcisioB and the rites q£ th^
Mosaic law, and, according to Jerom, this was the piinci-
pal error of Cerinthus^ that he was for joining the law widi
the gospel ; yet they were to make the pcecepts of Christ
tbe rule of their conduct. For th^r encouragement, he
promised them the i*csurrection of die body $ after which
the millennium was to commence under the government of
Christ united to the man Jesus : and this he represented
^s consisting in eating and drinking, nuptial entertain*
ments^ and other festivities. Cerinthus' opinions, however,
> Urimt'% Works, vol. UL^Mosheim.
HINT WTJ>8. i^
mm mitlepariaBi) hare been doubted hy> some^ aiid^ the
qoestioii is accurately ebcamiQed by Larckier, rilAiotlgKf
nidi some degree? of leming toivrards Ceniithtii^S'Optmoii^
of J^QsGfarist. ^
GBMSANTE. See DUNCAN- (Mahk)-
6ERQ0Qi3ZI (Michael. Anghlo), an emmfent pointer;
called' Ml A; m Baittagub^ from hift esicellence iii p^ieiN'
iBg^'battlesy aad B&BiBOCcrATE, ^om his toni for {Mating-
ninketSy fain^ &Qi Was born at Bxyme in '1*600, ot 1609.
His fether^ a j^i^-vller, perceiving' hU disponitroHf to th^i
art^ placed Uioi' with Jiames d^As^, a FlembU painter, theft'
iirccedit at Rome; after three years study \tith hkn, be'
weut to the school of P: P: Cortonese, wliom he quitted to-
bMtne tbet diisciple and imitator of Bamboocio. We sur-
pa^d all his> fellevr-students in taste, and hadv a mahnep of
punting' peculiar to himself. His chearfiil tempet^- apr
p««red* in' hi6 pictures, in which ridicule wai strongly re^-
piiisentftd. Tii)e facility of his pencil was such, that* on
tUa recital ' of a - battle, a: sfaip wreck, ot any uticonMoa
fipfre, be could express it directly on his canvas. His
cdoaring was vigorous, and his touch lightir H<e never*
QHide des^ns or sketches, bat only retouched his pictures^-
until he had brought them to all the perfection of whicbhe
was:capable; Snch was his reputation thkt he'cotild hardly
soppily. the commissions he received^ and he became- so-
rioh that the cares of wealth begcin to perplesc bin>. He
00' end occasion toofc all his wealth to a retired place in -
order to bury it, but when he arrived, was so alarmed' lest
it should be fbund, that he- brought it back, with much
trouble^ and ba^i^ing been two nights and a> dlty without
sleep or sustenautse, this, it is ss^, injured^ his health,
awl brought on a violent fever which proved fatal in 1660.
Hilr personal character is highly praisedi Mr. Fuseli says,
that he differs from Bamboccio' in the character and'phy^
siogfiomy of his figures; instead- of Dutch or flettisfh
mobs, be painted those of Italy^ Both artists have strbng-
and vmi tints ; Bambocciq i^ superior td him in landscape^
andihe-ekcells^ Bamboecio in the spiritf of his figvlres. One
oft bis mt»st copious workd i^itt'the palace Spada at Rome,
in which hehas represented an army of fanatic Laz^dt^ni,
wli(^ shout appl ause t»':Mtt8imidld. * <
«
* lardner. — Moebeim. — Gen. Diet
* iurjtf's Lives o/ Pataters^-«Afff <1pvil|e, ?oK I.— *Pi!kingtOn.
46 G E R R A T L
GERRATIj or CERATO (Paul), a lawyer and Latin
poet, was born of the noble fimily of Alba in Lombardy,
in 1485, and died in 1541. He composed a heroic poem
in three books, entitled " De Virginitate," Paris, 1629 ;
and a long " Epithalamium^* of 55S verses on the marriage
of William IX. marquis of Montferrat with Anne of Alen-
9on in 1508, of which there have been several editions.
Scaiiger and Baillet speak highly of him as a Latin poet,
but according to their account bis style was too lofty and
pompous, as he was apt to describe a fly in as solemn terms
as he would a hero. His works are in the " Delicise Poe-
tarum Ital." but were more recently published separately
by Vemazza in 1778, with a life of the author. ' ,
CERVANTES SAAVEDRA (Miguel de), the author
of Don Quixote, was born at Alcala de Henares in 1547.
He was the son of Rodrigo de Cervantes and Donna Leo*
nora de Cortinas, and baptised Sunday, Oct. 9 of that
year, as appear/'from the parish register of Santa Maria la
Mayor in Alcala, Several concurring testimonies furnished
the clue for this discovery, although six other places, Se-
ville, Madrid, Esquivias, Toledo, Lucena, and Alcazac^
de San Juan, called him their son, and each had their ad-
vocates to support their claims, in which respect his fame
resembles that of Homer's. His parents designed him for
tbe profession of letters, and although he had at home the
opportunity of instruction in the university, be studied
Latin in Madrid. He afterwards resided there in 156S^
but two years afterwards we find him at Rome in tbe ser-
vice of cardinal Aquaviva in the capacity of chamberlain.
Some time after this, pope Pius V. Philip IL of Spain, and
the republic of Venice, united in a league, which was con*
eluded May 29, 1571, against Selim the grand Turk.
Cervantes, not satisfied with an idle court life, desirous of
military renown, determined to commence soldier. Marco
Antonio Colonna being appointed general of the pope^s
galleys, Cervantes went with him, and was present in the
famous battle of Lepanto, where he was so wounded in his
left hand by a gun-shot as totally to lose the use of it; but
he thought this such an honour, that he afterwards declared
he would rather have been present in this glorious enter-
prise, than to be whole in his limbs^ and not to have been
there at all.
» Moi«ri.^Dtct Hkt
CERVAIfTES. 47
Colonna returned to Rome in the end of 1572, land it is
probable that Cervantes was -with him, as he tells us that
for some years b^ followed his conquering banners. He
was ordered to join his regiment at Naples, notwithstanding
his being maimed. In his '^.Viage del Parnaso^*' he tells
us that he walked its streets more than a year : and in the
copy of bis ransom, it appears that he was there a long
time. Don J. A. Pellicer supposes that in this city he em-
ployed his leisure hours in cultivating his knowledge of the
Italian tongue, and in reading of its good writers, with
whom he appears conversant in his works. As he was gO'*
ing from Naples to Spain on board the galley of the Sun,
Sept. 26, 1575, he had the misfortune to fall into the hands >
of the Moors, who carried him captive to Algiers; The
several hardships he underwent in his five years' captivity
are noticed by a contemporary writer: apd though the
events mentioned in the story of " The Captive,*' in the
first part of Don Quixote, cannot strictly be applied to
himself, yet they could hardly have been so feelingly de- '
scribed but by one who had been a spectator of such treat-*
ment as he relates. Several extraordinary and dangerous
attempts were made by him and his companions to obtain
their liberty, which was effected at last by the regular way
of ransom, which took place Sept. 19, 1580. The price t
was 500 escudos; towar4s. which \iis mother, a widow, con-
tributed 250 ducats, and bis sister 50.
Upon his return to Spain in the spring of the year fol-
lowing, he fixed his residence in Madrid, where his mother
and sister then lived. Following his own inclination to
letters, he gave himself up anew to the reading of every
kind of books, Latin, Spanish,, and Italian, acquiring hence
a great stock of various erudition. The first product of Jiis
genius was his ^^* Galatea," which he published in. 1584,
and on Dec. 12 of the, same year he m^arried at Esquivias,
Donna Catalina de Salazar ^y Palacipsf. Madrid was still
his place pf residence in. the years 158^5 — 6 and 7. He
turned his studies to the theatres, tor wbicjii he wrote
sev^ralpieces, which have never yet been published. In
fteyear 1596, he lived in Seville, and. wrote an ironical
sonnet upon the duke of Medina^s triumphal entry into
Cadiz, after, the earl of ^ Essex had plundered and left the
place. Probably Cervantes had a respect for the English
from this event. In the fourth of his novels which takes its .
rise hence, he introduces La Espan'ola Inglesa to our queen
4b: c fi r' V a n t fi a
Elizabeth,' wHo gives^ het at \^^ty' cordial reideption, atid
faicbher speak (to her ii^ Spatiisb. In iS9B he Was still in*
Schdlle, whete he wtDtef a sdntielt upon a niajestic tomb ofi
enormous height, to cf4ebrat(S^ the escequiek of Philip If.
which* be tbett' spdbeofas the b^ortout of his writings; It
is probabiie thee 'hef had reJatidrfiy in this' rfty; a* the illuS-
tnoQS family c^ th^ Cervantes y Saaved^as wai established'
here^ From thift yefer, howieveri there is'a-void' in his his-
tery, and nothinig more i» kndwhof hirtr till 1004'. Some
ha?e heeU' willito^ to supply? this' defect^ aiud suppose him
sent upon' b,^ commissions to^ Toboso; tfiat the natives'
hrongbt a cfa^ge against hini, threw him infto prison, and
t'hat he in rei^erttment nKJde^Don Quixote and 'Duhcinea*
Manchegans. Certain it iii* that* he describes with such'
acciimcy the* chorography of that province, and paints with"
such marks of propriety' tfie^mannersj dresses, ahd customs
of its^native^s, that it may be suspected* that' he had be^n an
ey^-* witness of the whole. This probably is the whole
foundation of the conjecture, for there is no do<iument in
proof of this, or any other appointment of 'Cervantes in La
Manefaa; Whfet is certainly known is, thdt at thb begin-
ning'of the^se^'enteenth century he was in prison, but for
an (^ence (as don Gregorio Mayans observes) which could
not be ignominious, as he himself make^ express mention
of it ^nd ffotQ the same* testimony it is known, that when
in this prison^ he wrote his history of " Don Quixote,'* of
which he |)abHshfed the first^ part ai Madrid in 1605. There.
w«s« set:ond edition of this in 1608, at the sanie place and
by the same printer, mucfr corretted and ' improved, no
notieeof which is taken'by PieHibejr, who speaks of that of
Valentiaof 1605, supposing such to exist, blit which he
had not seen. There is- another of Lisbon in 1 605, curious '
only oA the score of its gr^t loppings and'amputatidhs.
In 16p6, Cervantes returned firom ValladfaKd to Madrid,
wheiehe passed the last ten years of his life.' In 1610, his
second patron, don Pedro Ferriaftde^ de Castro, count of
Leitiosf, was ifamed viceroy of Kaples, and froufi thence
continued' to him his protection and liberality: and the
cardinal don Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, archbishop of *
Toledo, after the example of his cousin the count of Le-^
mos, assigned him a pension, that he might bear witli^ les&
inoonvenience the troubles of old age. Al^ough Madrid
was* now Cervantes^s home, he passed certain seasons in
Esquivias^ eitheir to take care of some effects of hiirwife; or
CERVANTES. 4d
to avoid the noise of the court, and to enjoy the quiet of
"ihe village, which afforded him opportunity to write more
at bis ease. Availing himself of this convenience, he has-
tenedj as he was advanced in years, to publish the greater
part of his works. He printed his "Novels" in 1613;
his "Journey to Parnassus" in 1614; his "Comedies and.
Interludes" in 1615; and in the same year the second
part of his "Don Quixote." He finished also his " Per-
silas and Sigismunda," which was not published till after
his death. In the mean time an incurable dropsy seized
bim, and gave him notice of his approaching dissolution,
which he saw with Christian constancy and with a cheerful
couDtenance. He has minutely described this in the pro-
logue to his posthumous work. One of his late biogra-
phers says, that good-nature and candour, charity, hu-
manity, and compassion for the infirmities of man in his
abject state, and consequently an abhorrence of cruelty,
persecution, and violence, the principal moral he seems to
inculcate in his great work, were the glorious virtues'^ and
predominant good qualities of bis soul, and^must transmit
his name to the latest ages with every eulogium due to so
exalted a character. At length, on the same nominal day
with his equally great and amiable contemporary Shak-
speare, on the 23d of April, 1616, died Miguel de Cervantes
Saavedra, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and was buried
in the church of the Trinitarian nuns in Madrid.
Of all the accounts hitherto published relative to Cer-
vantes, we have given the preference, to the preceding, for
which we are indebted to the late rev. John Bowie, whose
enthusiasm for "Don Quixote" is well known. It was
translated by him from a work published in 1778 at Madrid
by don Juan Antonio Pellicer y Saforgada, one of the royal
librarians, in a work entitled " Ensayo de una Bibliotheca
de Traductores Espan'oles. Preceden varias Noticias
Litterarias," 4to. The particulars being the result of re-
search in the only quarters where information could be
procured, seem more worthy of confidence than the con-
jectures of some of Cervantes's earlier biographers, whose
chief object seems to have, been to represent him as a man
depressed and degraded by poverty or imprudence, and
whose fate was a disgrace to his nation. It is necessary
however to add that the above account was prefixed to the
splendid edition of Don Quixote published by the Spanish
academy about thirty years ago. From this M. Florian
Vol. IX. E
so CERVANTES.
wrote a life prefixed to his translation of Cervantes*s ^^ Ga-
latea," and added not a little of the marvellous when de-
tailing Cervantes's adventures in captivity at Algiers. Flo-
rian's account was translated into English by a Mr. Wil-
liam Walbeck, and published at Leeds in 1785, 12mo.
Dr. Smollett has made a very interesting story in his life of
Cervantes, but wanting the accurate information which has
lately been recovered, he too hastily adopts the commoii
opinions, and presents an almost unvaried detail of miseries
and poverty. Cervantes's own account of his person is the
following : "His visage was sharp and aquiline, his hair
of a chesnut colour, his forehead smooth and high, his
hose bookish or hawkish,- bis eye brisk and chearful, his
mouth little, his beard originally of a golden hue, his up-
per lip furnished with large mustachios, his complexion
fair, his stature of the middling size ;" and he adds, " that
he was thick in the shoulders, and not very light of foot."
Of all Cervantes's writings his " Don Quixote'* is that
only which now is entitled to much attention, although
some of his " Novels" are elegant and interesting. But
on his " Don Quixote" his fame will probably rest as long
as a taste for genuine humour can be found. It ought
also, says ah elegant modern critic, to be considered as a
most useful performance,^ that brought about a great re-
volution in the uianners and literature of Europe, by ba-
nishing the wild dreams of chivalry, and reviving a tast^
for the simplicity of nature. In this view, the publication
of Don Quixote forms an important era in the history of
mankind. Don Quixote is represented as' a man, whom it
is impossible not to esteem for his cultivated understanding,
and the goodness of his heart ; but who, by poring nighty
and day upon old romances, had impaired his reason ta
such a degree, as to mistake them for history, and form
the design of traversing the world, in the character, and
with the accoutrements, of a knight-errant. His distem-
pered fancy takes the most comnwn. occurrences for ad-
ventures similar to those he had read in his books of chi-
valry. And thus, the extravagance of these books being
placed, as it were, in the same groupe with the appear-
ances of nature titid the real business of life, the hideous
disproportion of the former becomes so glaring by the
contrast, that the most inattentive reader cannot fail to be
Struck with it. The person, the pretensions, and the ex-
ploits, of the errant-ktiight, are held up to view in a thoa«
CERVANTES. $1
sand ridiculous attitudes. In a word, the humour and sa-
tire are irresistible ; and their effects were instantaneous;
This work nd sooner appeared than chivalry vanished/
Mankind awoke as from a dream. They laughed at them*
selves for having been so long imposed on by absurdity ;
and wondered they had not made the discovery sooner.
They were astonished to find, that nature and good sense
could yield a more exquisite entertainment than they had
ever derived from the most sublime phrenzies of chivalry*
This, however, was the case ; and that Don Quixote was
more read, and more relished, than any other romance
had ever been, we may infer from the sudden and powerful
effects it produced on the sentiments of mankind, as well
as from the declaration of the author* himself ; who tells
Qs, that upwards of 12,000 copies of the first part (printed
at Madrid in 1605} were circulated before the second could
be ready for the press ; an amazing rapidity of sale, at a
time when the readers and purchasers of books were but aa
inconsiderable^ number compared to what they are in our
days. <' The very children (says he) handle it, boys read
it, men understand, and old people applaud the perfor*
mance. It is no sooner laid down by one than another
takes it upj some struggling, and some intreating, for a
sight of it. In fine (continues he) this history is the most
delightfpl, and the least prejudicial entertainment, that
ever was seen ; for, in the whole book, there is -not the
least shadow of a dishonourable word, nor one thought
unworthy of a good catholic.*' Don Quixote occasioned
the death of the old romance, and gave birth to the new.'
Fiction from this time divested herself of her gigantic size,
tremendous aspect, and frantic demeanour : and, descend-
ing to the level of common life, conversed with man as hi»-
equal, and as a polite and chearful companion. Not that
every subsequent romance-writer adopted the plan, or the
manner of Cervantes ; but it was from him they learned to
avoid extravagance and to imitate nature. And now pro-
bability was as much studied, as it had been formerly
neglected.
These sentiments, which we have adopted from Dr.
Beattie*s ** dissertations," are the sentiments of sober
criticism ; but those who have allowed their imaginations
to be heated by a frequent perusal of Don Quixote, have
not scrupled to attribute to Cervantes more serious pur-
poses than he could possibly have h&d in contemplatioB.
£ 3
/
52 CERVANTES.
They have supposed that his object was to bring knigbt*
errantry into ridicule, and they infer that he was -so suc-
cessful as to banish knight-errantry from the nations of
Europe. But no assumption can be worse founded than
the existence of kfiight- errantry in Cervantes's time. No
pian in all Europe at that time went about defending vir-
gins, redressing grievances, and conquering whole armiei
with the assistance of enchanters. Such imaginary beings^
^d events existed only in the old romances, which being
the favourite reading in Spain, Cervantes very properly
levelled his satire at them in the person of Don Quixote^
whom he describes as become \nsane by a constant perusal
of them; and so far is he from insinuating that knight-
errantry e^xisted, that he makes his hero the ridicule of
every person he meets. Cervantes's sole purpose was to
introduce a better style of writing for popular amusement,
and he fully succeeded ; and we may say with Dr. Warton,
how great musv be the native force of Cervantes's huUiour,
when it can be rejished by readers even unacquainted with
Spanish manners, with the institution of chivalry, and with
the many passages of old romances, and Italian poems, to
which it perpetually alludes ! The great art, says the
same critic, of Cervantes, consists in having painted his
mad hero with such a number of amiable qualities, as to
make, it impossible for us totally, to despise him.. This
light and shade in drawing characters, shews the master.
It is thus that Addison has represented his sir Roger de
Coverley, and Shakspeare his Falstaff. We know not, how-
ever, how to applaud what Dr. Warton calls a striking pro-
priety in the madness of Don Quixote, " not frequently
taken notice of," namely, his time of life. Thuanus in-
forms us that madness is a common disorder among the
Spaniards at the latter part of life, about the age in which
the knight is represented. Without resting on this asser-
tion, for whi^h we know no better authority than the " Per-
roniana et Thuana," we conceive it highly probable that
Cervantes made, bis hero elderly, that his pretended vigour
of arm, and above all, his love addresses, might appear
more ridiculous. We adopt with more satisfaction a sen-
timent of the late Mr. Owen Cambridge, in the preface to
bis *' Scribleriad," because it exalts Cervantes's great work
to that superiority of rank, as a mock-heroic, to which it
seema justly entitled, and in which it is likely to remain
-undisturbed. Mr. Cambridge says, that in reading the
CERVANTES. 53
four celebrated mock-heroic poems, the Lutrin, Dispen-
sary, Rape of the Lock, and Dunciad, he perceived they
had all some radical defect; but at last be found, by ^
diligent perusal of Don Quixote, that propriety was the
fundamental excellence of that work; that all the mar-
vellous was reconcileable to probability, as the author
leads his hero into that species of absurdity only, which
it was natural for an imagination heated with the con-
tinual reading of books of chivalry, to fall into ; and that
the want of attention to this was the fundamental error of
those poems above mentioned.
The editions of Don Quixote have been so many as to
render it impossible to give a correct list ; nor of a work so
easily accessible, is it, perhaps, necessary. The English
public have been long familiarized with it in the transla-
tions of Jarvis and Smollett, the comparative merits of
which are so admirably adjusted in the late lord Wood-
houselee^s Essay on Translation, The French have also
good translations.
Mr. D'lsraeli, in his^ " Curiosities of Literature," haa
published an anecdote from the " Segraisiana," which
seems to have escaped the biographers of Cervantes. ** M,
du Boulay accompanied the French ambassador to Spain
when Cervantes was yet alive. He has told me, that the
ambassador one day complimented Cervantes on the great-
reputation he had acquired by his Don Quixote ; and that
Cervantes whispered in his ear, " Had it not been for tlie
Inquisition, I should have made my book much more en-
tertaining." In what manner he would have done so it
would be useless to conjecture.
The last act of Cervantes's life was to write a dedication
of bis novel of ^^ Persilas and Sigismunda" to his patron,
the count of Lemos. As this appeared in the last edition
of this Dictionary, and illustrates in some respect the cha-
racter of the writer, we shall conclude this sketch with it.
^' There is an old ballad, which in its day was much in
vogue, and it began thus : ^ And now with one foot in the
stirrup,' &c. I could wish this did not fall so pat to my
epistle, for I can almost say in the same words,
' And now with one foot in the stirrup.
Setting out for the regions of death.
To write this epistle I chear up.
And salute my lord with my last breath.'
Yesterday they gave me the extreme unction, and to-day'
9* CERVANTES.
I
I write ibis. Time is short, pains increase, hopes di«*
minish ; and yet, for all this, I would live a little longer,
methinks, not for the sake of living, but that I might
kiss your excellency's feet ; and it is not impossible but
the pleasure of seeing your excellency safe and well in
Spain might make me well too. But, if I am decreed to
die, heayen's will be done : your excellency will at least
give me leave to inform you of this 'my desire ; and like-
wise that you had in me so zealous and well-affected a
servant as was willing to go even beyond death to serve
you, if it had been possible for his abilities to equal his
sincerity. However, I prophetically rejoice at your ex-
cellency's arrival again in Spain ; my heart leaps within
me to fancy you shewn to one anodier by the people,
* There goes the Cond^ de Lemos !' and it revives my
spirits to see the accomplishment of those hopes which I
have so long conceived of your excellency's perfections.
There are still remaining in my soul certain glimmerings
of * The Weeks of Garden,' and of the famous Bernardo.
If by good luck, or rather by a miracle, heaven spares my
life, your excellency shall see them both, and with them
the * second part* of * Galatea,' which I know your ex-
cellency would not be ill-pleased to see. And so I con-
clude with my ardent wishes, that the Almighty will pre-
serve your excellency.
Your excellency's servant,
Madrid, Jpril 19, 1616. Michael de Cervantes."*
CERUTI (Frederick), a learned philologist, was born
at Verona in 1541, and was brought to France in his in-
fancy, by John Fregosa, bishop of Agen : here he was
educated, and for some time served in the army, after
which his patron sent him to Rome, with a view to the ec-
clesiastical life. Ceruti, however, being disinclined to
this, returned to his native country, and married. He
afterwards opened a school at Verona, in which he had
great success, and along with Guarinoni was at the head
of the academy of the Moderati. In 1585 he published an
edition of Horace at Verona, with a paraphrase, 4to, and
in 1597 an edition of Juvenal and Persius, 4ta He also
wrote commentaries on some parts of Cicero, and on the
Georgics of Virgil, but it does not appear that they were
1 Life as aboTe.*»-Ditto by Smollett. — Beattie'i Dissertations, p. 562.— -War*
tea's Essay on Pope.— Saxii Onomasticon.
C E R U T L 95
printed. Hid other published works are, two Letters in
the '* Amphotides Scioppiana ;'' a ^* Dialogus de Co*
inoBdia,*' Verona, 1593, 8vo; another, " De recta ado*
lescentulorum institutione,'' and a collection of Latin
poems in 1584. He died in 1579.^
CERUTTI (Joseph Anthony Joachim), a French poet
and miscellaneous writer, was bom at Turin in 1738, and
after being educated among the Jesuits, joined their order,
and became professor of their college at Lyons. In 1761
be gained two academical prizes at Toulouse and Dijon ;
the subj^ect of the one was ^< Duelling," and the other an
answer to the question " Why modern repubUcs have ac-
quired less splendour than the ancient." This last, be-
fore Cerutti was known as its author, was attributed to
Rousseau* It was printed at the Hague in 1761, 8^o,
and reprinted at Paris in 179U When the order of th(Q
Jesuits was about to be abolished, Cerutti wrote in their
defence ** L'Apologie de Pinstitut des Jesuites,'* 1762,.
two parts, 8vo, the materials being furnished by the two
Jesuits Menoux and GrifFet. Some time after, he was
obliged to appear before the procurator-general of the
parliament of Paris, to abjure the order which he had de-
fended. It is said that after he had taken the prescribed oath,
he asked if there was any thing to subscribe, to which the
magistrate answered, " Yes, the Alcoran." His " Apo-.
logy," however, was much admired, and recommended
him to the Dauphin, who welcomed him. to court* Here
be contracted an unhappy and violent passion for a lady
of the first rank, which brought on a tedious illness, from
which the friendship of the duchess of Brancas recovered
him, and in her house at Fleville he found an^ honourable
asylum for fifteen years. This lady, who appears to have
been somewhat of the romantic kind, as soon as she re-
ceived him into her house, put a ring on his fitiger, telling
him that friendship had espoused merit When the revo-
lution broke out, he came to Paris, and became a zealous
partizan, and was much employed by Mirabeau in drawing
up reports. His Memoir on patriotic contributions pro-
cured him a place in the legislative body, but he died in
1792, after which the municipality of Paris honoured him
by giving his name to one of the new streets. Besides
the works already mentioned, he published 1. <^ L'Aigle
* itforeri.
66 C E R U T T L
0t le hibou," an apologue in verse, Glasgow and Paris^
1783. 2. ** Recueil de quelques pieces de literature en
prose et en vers," ibid. 1784. The best of these is a dis-
sertation on antique monuments, occasioned by some
Greek verses discovered on a tomb at Naples, in 1756.
3. " Les Jardins de Betz," a descriptive poem, 1792, 8vo.
4. '^ Lettre sur les avantages 6t I'origine de la gaiet^
Franjaise," Lyons, 1761, 12mo ; Paris, 1792, 8vo. 5.
An essay On the question " Combien un esprit trop subtit
ressemble a un esprit faux," 1750, 8vo. 6. "Les vrais
plaisirs ne sont faits que pour la vertu," 1761, 4to. These
two last were honoured with the academical prizes of
Montauban. 7. ** Pourquoi les arts utiles ne sont-ils pas
cultiv^s preferablement aux arts agr^ables," 1761, 4to.
8. " Sur I'origine et les efFets du desir de transmettre son
Bom a la posterity," Hague, 1761, 8vo ; Paris, 1792, 8vo:
9. " Traduction libre de trois odes d'Horace," 1789. 10.
** De I'interet d'un ouvrage dans le sujet, le plan, et le
style," Paris, 1763, 8v6. Besides these, he published
some tracts on the subjects which arose out of the revolu-
tion, and was joint editor with Rabaut de St Etiehne, of
the ** Feuille villageoise," a paper calculated to spread the
^evolutionary delusions among the country people, but his
style was not sufficiently simple and popular. In 1793, a
(Collection of his works was published in an 8vo volume.
Those which are on subjects of literature are ingenious
and interesting, but as a poet he cannot be allowed to rank
high. ^
CESARINI (ViRGiNio), a very accomplished Italian
scholar, was born at Rome in Oct. 1595, the son of Julian
Cesarini, duke of Citta Nuova, and of Li via Ursini.^ Such
was his application to study, that at an age when most
scholars are but beginning, he was acquainted with lan-
guages, philosophy, theology, law, medicine, mathematics,
and sacred and profane history. Cardinal Bellarmin com-
pared him in knowledge, personal character, and accom**
plistments, to Eicus de Mirandula, and such was the ge-
neral esteem in which' he was held, ihat a medal was struck
with the heads of Cesarini and Picus crowned with laurel,
and on the reverse two phenixes. His modesty and pro-
bity were not less conspicuous than his learning. Pope
yrban VIIL intended to have made him a cardinal, but he
> Diet Hist.
C E S A R I N I. 57
died in the flower of his age, in 1624, then a member of
the academy of the Lyncei. His Latin' and Italiran poems
were printed in the collection entitled ** Septem illustrium
virorum poemata," Aiitwerp, 1662, 8vo, and since re-
printed. He wrote also a treatise against astrology, and
on other subjects, which have not been published. Au-
gustin Favoriti, secretary of the college of cardinals, wrote
his life in Latin, which is in the ^^ Miemoria philosophorum,
&c. curante Henningo Witteri, decas prima," Francfort,
1677, 8vo. Bianchi also, in his account of the academi-
cians of the Lyncei, Milan, 1741', notices Cesarini. *
CESI (Bartholomew), an artist bprn in 1556, was one
of the masters whose principles were respected by the
school of the Caracci. From him Tiarini learnt the prac-
tice of fresco; his works contain the germ of GuidoV
elegance. Indeed they are not easily distinguished from
Guidons earlier* performances. He seldom dares ; follows
nature, fond of her best forms, and as shy to supply her
with ideal ones ; his draperies are broad, his attitudes con*
siderate ; his tints have more suavity than strength. Such
are the altar-pieces at S. Jacopo and at S» Martino, works
which Guido is said to have often spent whole hours in
con teni^ plating. In fresco he is more vigorous, and treats
copious subjects with equal judgment, variety, and power
of execution ; thus he treated the History of ^Eneas, in
the palace Favi, and with still greater felicity the Transac-
tions of Clement VIII. on the arch of Forli, which, though
exposed to the air for so many years, retains all the vi-
vacity of its tints. He was esteemed by the Caracci, and
generally loved by the professors for his honesty of cha-
racter and attachment' tQ the art. To his exertions chiefly
is ascribed the secession, of the painters in 1595, from
cutlers, chasers, and sadlers, with whom they had been
incorporated for some centuries. And though at the for-
mation of their, new society he could not rid them of the
cotton -workers' body (Bambagiai), he established their
precedence and superiority of rank. Cesi died in 1627.'
CESPEDES (Paul), a painter of Cordova, acquired
fame in the sixteenth century, both in Spain and Italy.
His manner approaches' somewhat to that of Correggio;
the same exactness in the drawing, the same force in the
expression, the same vigour in the colouring. It is im-
' MorarU^-Saiiiet Jusemens.— ErythneiPiaacothtfca.^ * Pilkington,
5« CESPEOES.
possible to contemplate without eiootton hlfl picture of the
Last Supper in the cathedral of Cordova ; where each of.
the apostles presents a different character of respect and
afiection for their master ; the Christ displays at once an^
air ^f majesty and kindness ; and the Judas a false and
malignant countenance. The talents of Cespedes were
not confined to painting, if we may trust the enthusiasui
of the Spanish authors in his behalf ; he was at the same
time philosopher, antiquary, sculptor, architect ; an adept
in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Italian lan-
guages, a great poet, and a prolific author. He died in
1608, aged upwards of seventy. '
CHABANON ( D£), a French writer of eminence
in polite literature, is said to have been born in America^
of French parents, in 1730, and died in Paris July 12^
1792, but our only authority does not give his Christian
same, nor have we been able to discover it in any of the
French catalogues. He was a member of the French
academy, and of that of the belles-lettres, a dramatic au-
thor, an indifferent poet, but much esteemed for his
writings respecting criticism and elegant literature. Hi9
principal works are: 1. <^ Eponine/^ a tragedy, 1762^
which did not succeed. 2. ^^ Eioge de Rameau,'^ 1764^
8vo. 8. '^ Sur le sort de la poesie, en ce siecle philo*
sophe, avec un dissertation sur Homere,'' 176^,' Svo. 4.
'* Euxodie,^' a tragedy, 1769, 12mo. 5. <^ Discours sur
Pindar,^' with a translation of some of bis odes, 1769, 8vo.
6. *^ Les Odes Pithiques de Pindare,^* translated, with
notes, 1771, Svo. This, in the opinion of Voltaire, is an
excellent translation. 7. "Vie de Dant^," 1775, Svo.
8. " Sabinus,*' a lyric tragedy, but unsuccessful, 1775.
9. '^ Epitre sur la manie des jardins Anglois,^' 1775, 8vo*
The design of this is to modify, or rather to attack the
principle that engages many to respect all the caprices of
nature, and to shew that this principle, or at least its un-
restrained application, may be prejudicial to the arts, but
he displays more ingenuity than taste in this discussion.
10. " Jdylles de Theocrite,*' a new translation, 1777, Svo.
The most valuable part of this volume is a judicious and
elegant essay on the Bucolic poiets, in which, however^
be is thought to treat Fontenelle and madame Deshoulieres
with too much severity. 11. << Vers sur Voltaire,*' 1778^
1 Pilkmgtoii.-»CttmberUiid'i Spanish Painters*
CHABANON: S9
8vo. 12. ^' De la Musique consider^e en elle meme, et
dans ses rapports avec la parole, les langues, la poesie, et la
theatre/' 1788, 2 vols. 8vo. The first voiume, if we mistake
not, was published in 11 S5. In this, says Dr« Burney,
he discovers a refined taste, nice discernment, much me-
ditation and knowledge of the subject, and an uncommon
$pmt of investigati<M) ; and although Dr. Bqmey's senti*-
ments are not always in unison with the opinions and rea-
soning of M. de Cbabanon, yet there are such enlarged
views and luminous and elegant observations in analysing
the sensations which music excites, in assigning reasons
for the pleasures which this art communicates to ears that
vibrate true to musical intervals and concordant sounds^
that he thinks its perusal will generate reflections on the
art, and set the mind of a musician at work, who had
never before regarded music but as a mere object of sense.
This book was written in the midst of the war of musical
opinions between the Gluckists and Piccinists. The author
is said to have been not only an exciellent judge of instru-
mental composition and performance, but among dilettanti
ranked high as a performer on the violin. 13. The ^^ Dis-
course' he pronounced on his admission into the academy
Jan. 20, 1780, 4to. In 1795 was published from his ma-
nuscript, ^' Tableau de quelques circonstances de ma vie,'*
8fo, containing a faithful but not very pleasing disclosure
of his conduct and sentiments. It appears that in his
youth he was a devoty as serious as madame Guyon, but
that afterwards he went into the other extreme, no uncom-
mon transition with his countrymen. '
CHABOT (Peier Walter), a learned philologer,
was born at Sainloup in Poitou, in 1516, and studied the
Latin tongue at Sainloup, and afterwards went to Poitiers,
at twenty -tour years of age, to study the Greek there ;
bat he was soon recalled from thence, to teach youth in
his native place. He taught there six years, after which
he went to Paris, and went through a course of philoso-
phical studies under Omer and Talon, in the college de
PrSle. Having spent three years and a half in study, he
took his degree of M. A. and professed teaching. The
children of several persons of distinction were com-
mitted to his care ; and he acquired so much reputation as
* Diet Hist— Dr. Buniey, in Rees's Cyclopiedia, who by mistake says Cha*
kanoB died io 1800.— Month. Rev. See Index.
60 C H A EOT.
a preceptor; that chancellor de l'H6pital resolved to en*
gage him to live at his seat in the country, to teach his
grandsons. He got Peter Ramus and John Mercier, the
regius professors^ to- make proposals to him. Chabot ac-
cepted them, and lived twelve years in the chancellor's
family, viz, five years before the chancellor died, and
seven years after. His chief work was a Commentary on
Horace, on which he exhausted all the fruits of his studies^
He was a man of great regularity in life and manners, and
submitted three times, with great patience, to the plunder
of his effects during the civil wars. He died of an ad-
Tanced age, about 1597. He is said to have been once
professor in the university of Paris, which Bayle doubts,
but Freher seems to confirm it. His commentary on Ho-
race was printed 1615, fol. according to Bayle. Dr. Clarke
mentions an 8vo, Paris, 1582, and says it is a very rare
edition, but this appears to be an abridgment of the larger
work.*
CHABRIT (Peter), member of the supreme council
6f Bouillon, and advocate in the parliament of Paris, died
in that capitol in 1785. Born to no fortune, his days were
shortened by diiBculties and cares. His works give proof
of considerable talents, and his manners are said to have
attracted universal esteem. His book entitled " Of the
French monarchy and its laws," 1785, 2 Vols. 12mo, dis-
plays a novelty in the design, and a variety of knowledge
in the execution. He is thosght to have taken Montes-
quieu for his model, whose energy and precFsion he copies,
as well as his dryness. He obtained in 1732 the prize of
the French academy for the encouragement of literature.
Diderot proposed him to Catherine H. of Russia as a proper
person to assist her in her new code of laws, and as one
profoundly verjsed in the subject, but Chabrit died before
her imperial majesty returned an answer. '
CHADERTON (Laurence), first master of Emanuel-
college, Cambridge, and a benefactor to that house, was
born of an ancient family at Chatterton, in Lancashire, ia
1546. His parents were papists, and educated him in that
religion, sending him afterwards to study law in one of the
inns of court, but in the twentieth year of his age, he re-
nounced this pursuit, and went to Cambridge, where his-
talents and industry recommended him to a scholarship in
» Gen. Diet.— Fietteri Theatrum* « Diet. Hist^
<; H A D E R T O N. 61
.Christ^ s-college. His father, enrag^ed at this, sent him a
bag with a groat in it, and told him he might beg, as he
meant to disinherit him, and afterwards executed his threat.
Young Cbaderton, however, persisted in his studies, and
in 1567, when B.A., was chosen fellow of his college. In
1578 he commenced B. D. an4 in the same year preached
a sermon at St. Paul's cross, which he afterwards printed.
He was then chosen lecturer of St. Clement's churchy
Cambridge, where he preached for about sixteen years,
much followed and admired. Such was his reputation foe
learning and piety, that when sir Walter Mildmay re-
founded Emanuel college, in 1584, he chose Chadertoa
for the first master, and on his expressing some reluctance*
declared that if Chaderton would not be master, the foun-
dation should not go on. In the beginning of the reiga
of James I. he was one of the four divines for the con-
fereuce at Hampton-court, and the same year was chosea
one of the translators of the Bible, and was gne of the
Cambridge divines who translated from Chronicles to Can-
tides inclusive. In 1612, when the prince elector palatine
visited Cambridge, he requested Mr. Chaderton to com-
mence D. D. with which he complied ; and having regretted
that the founder of Emanuel had provided for only three
fellows, he made such application among his friends, as to
make provision for twelve fellows, and above forty scholars,
anJ procured some church livings for the college. To-
wards the close of his life, when Arminian doctrines be-
came prevalent, dreading lest he might have an Arminiaa
successor, he resigned in favour of Dr. Preston, but sur-
vived him, and lived also to see Drs. Bancroft and Holds-
worth masters. He was a man of acknowledged piety,
benevolence, and learning, and lived in great respect for
many years after his resignation. He died Nov. 1640,
aged about ninety-four, and was buried in St. Andrew'<«
ichurch. He appears to have been related to Dr. William
Chaderton, successively bishop of Chester and Lincoln,
of whom some account is given by Peck in the preface to
his ". Desiderata." Besides the sermon noticed above,
Pr. L. Chaderton wrote a treatise on Justification, "which
Anthony Thysius, professor of divinity at Leyden, pub-
lished with other tracts on the same subject; and some of
his MSS. are still in the public libraries, particularly in
the Brit, Mus. among the Harleian MSS. Moreri says his
«2 CHADfeRTON.
** Life** was published by William Dillingham, at Cam«*
bridge, in 1700, but this we have not seen.*
CHADUC (Lewis), an able antiquary, was of a good
family of Riom, in Auvergnjg, where he was born, in 1564.
and was educated at Bourges for five years, under the eel
lebrated Cujas. On his return to Riom, he was in 1594
made a counsellor of the presidial, and discharged the du*
ties of that office with great ability and integrity for the
space of forty-four years. During this time he found lei-
sure to improve his knowledge of antiquities, and accumu-
lated a large library, and many series of medals. In order
to gratify his curiosity more completely, he took a journey
to Italy, and visited at Rome all the valuable remains of
antiquity, receiving great kindness from the literati of that
place, and particularly from cardinal Bellarmin. From^
this tour he brought home many curious MSS. scarce
books, medals, antique marbles, and above two thousand
gems, which rendered his collection one of the most va-
luable then in France. After his return he caused all these
gems to be engraven on copper-plate, ranging theia
under fifteen classes, of which he made as many chapters
of explanation, but the bad state of his health during his
latter years prevented his publishing this curious work.
He also wrote a treatise " De Annulis," which he modestly
withheld from the press on hearing that Kirchman, a Ger-
man antiquary, had published on the same subject. Noi;-
withstanding his not appearing in print, he was well known
to the learned of his time, and held a correspondence with
most of them. Savaro, in his Commentary upon Sidonius
Apollinaris, and Tristan, in his ^' Historical Commenta-
ries," speak highly of him, nor was he less esteemed by
Bignon, Petau, and Sirmond. He died at Riom, Sept. 19,
1638, of a sickness which lasted two years, almost with-
out any interruption. His heirs sent all his curiosities to
Paris, where they were purchased by the president de
Mesmes, who gave them to the duke of Orleans, And firom
him they passed to the royal cabinet. *
CHAIS (Charles), an eminent protestant divine, wad
borri in 1701, at Geneva, where he probably received the
first rudiments of education. The church being chosen
for bis profession, after passing through the usual proba-
tionary exercises, he was admitted into the order of priest-
1 Clarke's Lives.— Fuller's Worthhis.— Strypc's Wbitgift, p. 435, 474, and
Appendix, p. 155-6^— Moreri, « Memoirs ci« TreTOuz, March 1721.
C H A I 9. 6S
hood. In the ministry his reputation as a preacher and an
orator soon became so popular and extensive, that in 172S
be was elected pastor at the Hague, and his conduct in
this establishment, while it contributed to his own reputa-
tion, redounded no less to the honour of those who had
appointed him. Having adorned his ministry by the purity
of his manners, the excellence of the discourses which he
delivered from the pulpit, and bis numerous writings in
defence of revealed religion, he died in 1786, at the age
of eighty-five, after having punctually discharged his
duty as a pastor during the period of fifity-eight years.
I'he unfortunate supported by his consolation, the
youth enlightened by his instructions, and the poor
succoured by his charity, lamenting the loss which they
had sustained by the death of a benefactor and a friend,
proved more eloquent attestations of bis merit, than any
panegyric which might have been pronounced by the most
sublime orator. His sermons were distinguished by a per-
spicuous style and a pure morality. They seemed to flovr
not only from a man who practised what he taught, but
from one who, acquainted with the inmost recesses of the
human heart, could exert his eloquence to win his hearers
to the interests of virtue and religion. His portrait, which
is prefixed to his translation of the Holy Bible, seems to
confirm the relation of his friends, who say that his coun*
tenance was interesting and attractive. In his manners h6
was pcrlite and attentive ; in his address mild and insi-
nuating. His literary excellence consisted in a judicious
and happy arrangement of his subjects, delivered in a plain
and unaffected style. He made no pretensions to origi-
nality, but he illustrated the works of other writers, by
introducing then! to his countrymen in a language that was
more familiar to them.
His works were : 1., ** La Sainte Bible, avec un com-
mentaire literal & des notes choisies, tiroes de divers au-
teurs Anglois," printed at the Hague. * The publication
of this work was begun in 1742, and continued till 1777,
forming 6 vols, in 4to. The 7th volume was left by ;the
author in MS. and published in 1790, by Dr. Maclaine,
who wrote also the preliminary dissertations. This volume
completes the historical books of the Old Testament. 2. '^ Le
sens literal de Tecriture sainte traduit de PAnglois de Stack-
house," ibid. 17^1, 3 vols. 8vo. 3. " Lettres historiques
•t dogmatiques sur les Jubil6s/' ibid. 17 50, 1751, 3 torn.
64 C H A I &
8vo. 4. "Theologie de I'ecriture S. ou la Science cki
iSalut, comprise dans une ample collection de passa^s
du V. & N. Testament," ibid. 1752, 2 torn. 8vo. 5. " Ks-
sai apologetique sur T Inoculation," ibid. 1755 ; and several
volumes of " Sermons." Besides these works, he super-^
•intended the publication of Hainault's History of France,
which was published at the Hague in 1747, 8vo. He was
besides engaged as a writer in the *^ Bibliotheque Histo-
rique," which was begun at the Hague in 1738, and also
contributed some articles in the " Bibliotheque des sci-
ences et beaux arts."*
CHAISE (Francis de la), a Jesuit of uncommon abili-
ties, and confessor to Lewis XIV. was born in the chateau
of Aix, in 1624, of an ancient but reduced family. He
gave early indications of' talents when at school, and per-
formed his philosophical exercises under father de Vaux,
who was afterwards advanced to the highest employments in
his order. When he was arrived at ^ proper age, he was
ordained priest ; and became afterwards professor of divi--
nity in the province of Lyons, and rector and provincial of
a college there. He spent at several seasons a good deal
of time in Paris, where his great address, his wit, and love,
of letters, made him almost qniversally known : and in
1663, the bishop of Bayeux introduced him to cardinal
.Mazarine, who- shewed him many marks of favour, an^l
ojflFered him his patronage. In 1665, he presented la
Chaise to the king, as a person of whose great abilities
and merit he was well convinced, and afterwards got him
admitted into the council of conscience, which indeed was
no less than to make him coadjutor to the confessor, and
when the cardinal died, he was made, in 1675, confessor
to the king ; and about ten years after, was the principal
adviser and director of his marriage with m.adame de Main-
tenon. The king was then arrived pt an age when confes-
sors have more than an ordinary influence : and la Chaise
.found himself a itiinister of state, without expecting^ and
almost before he perceived it. He did business regularly
with the king, and immediately saw all the lords and all
tbe prelates at his feet. He had made himself a master ia
the affairs of the church ; which, by the disputes that cftea
arose between the courts of France and Rome> were h^
come affairs of state.
1 From tbe preceding^ edit, of this Diet. — Life by Dr. Maclaiae»
CHAISE; 6«
Yet, in spite of all his address and the influence which
lie had gained ov^er the king, he was sometimes out of
favour with his master, and in danger of being disgraced.
I'rovoked at the ill success of the affair concerning th«
electorate of Cologu in 1689, the king shewed his displea<^
sure to the confessor, by whose counsels he had been in-
fluenced. La Chaise excused himself, by laying the blame
upon the marquis de Louvois ; but the king told him with
some indignation, ^' that an enterprise suggested by Jesuits
had never succeeded ; and that it would be better if they
would confine themselves to teaching their scholars, and
sever presunae to meddle in affairs of state.'* La Chaise
was very solicitous to establish an interest with madame de
JMaintenon ; but does not appear to have done it effectuv-
ally, till that favourite found herself unable, by all her
intrigues and contrivances, to remove him from the plac6
of confessor. The Jesuit, it has been said, had not reli^
gion enough for this devout lady. He loved pleasure^
had a taste for magnificence, and was thpught too luke-
warm in the care of his master's conscience. The jealousy
and dislike with which she regarded him were ejspressed in
her letters ; but her unfavourable representations of his
temper and character were counteracted by those of the
duke of St. Simon, who describes him as mild and mode-
tate, humane a^d modest, possessed of honour and pro-
bity, and though much attached to his family, perfectly
disinterested. La Chaise died Jan. 1709, and possessed
to the very last so great a share of favour and esteem with
the king, that his majesty consulted him upon his cieath-
bed about the choice of bis successor. ^
CHALCIDIUS was a Platonic philosopher, concerning
whose history ecclesiastical writers are much . divided ;
Cave, Hody, Beausobre^ and Lardner, have examined all
the evidence they could find without coming to a conclu-
sion, nor does it appear from his writings whether he was
a Christian or a Gentile. It is supposed that he flourished
^bout the year 330. He translated into Latin the former
part of the Timxus of Plato, with ia commentary, which
afforded great scope for the speculations of the philoso-
phers of the middle ages. . This was printed in Gn & Lat
by Meursius at Leydenj 1617, 4to, and reprinted by Fa-
» Diet. mt.
Vol IX. F
66 CHALCONDYLES.
bricias in the second volume of his edition of the works of
HyppoUtus, Hamburgh, 1718, foL'
CHALCONDYLES (Demetrius), a native of Athens,
of the fifteenth century, and the scholar of Theodore
tjraza, was one of those Greeks who about the time of the
taking of Constantinople went into the west. At the in-
vitation of Lorenzo de Medici, he became professor of the
Greek language at Florence in 1479; where he had for
his rival Angelus Politianus, to whom Laurence had com-
mitted the tuition of one of his sons. After the death of
Laurence, Chalcondyles was invited to .Milan by Lewis
Sfortia; which invitation he accepted, either because he
was tired of contending with Politian, or because he was
hurt with Politianus acknowledged superiority in Latin
learning. Such is the usually-received account, which
rests only on the authority of Paul Jovius, who was always
hostile to the character of Politian ; but Mr. Roscoe in his
life of Lorenzo has proved that the story is without foun^
dation. At Milan, however, Chalcondyles taught Greek
a long time with great reputation ; and did not die before
1510, when there is reason to think he was above 80 years
of age. Among the learned Greeks whom pope Nicolas V.
sent to Rome to translate the Greek authors into Latin,
Chalcondyles was one ; from which we may collect, that
he probably travelled into the west before the taking of
Constantinople in 1453, since Nicolas died in 1455. He
published a grammar, of which we shall presently take
notice ; and under, his inspection and care was first pub-
lished at Florence, in 1499, the Greek Lexicon of Suidas.
Pierius Valerianus, in his book " De infelicitate literato-
rum,'* says, that Chalcondyles, though a deserving man
in his moral as well as literary character, led nevertheless
a very unhappy life; and reckons perpetual banishment
from his country among the chief of his misfortunes.
Others have mentioned domestic evils that have attended
him. The particulars of his life are very imperfectly
given. Dr. Hody has probably collected all that now can
be found, but he has merely given the notices from various
authors, without attempting a regular narrative. Some
have thought that he was at one time a printer, and that
he printed the folio Homer of Florence, which goes by bis
name, and which was executed in 148$; but this report
» Cave. — Lardner's Works, vol. VIII. — Moreri,— Saxii Onomasticoa:
CttALCONDYLES. ,6t
iiodottbt arose from the care he took in correcting the
press, as the printefs' names are given in that rare edition.
The " domestic evils" above alluded to have a better foun*
dation, as he was unhappy in his wife, whose chastity was
suspected, and in his sons : Theophilus, the eldest, who
taught Greek at Paris, was assassinated in the streets in a
riotous sqnabble ; and two others, Saleucus and Basil, both
of promising talents, died young.
The " Erotema, sive Institutiones Grammaticae," of De-
metrius Chalcondyles, is supposed to have been printed
at Milan about the end of the fifteenth century. It is a
quarto, of great rarity, without date. The second edi-
tion of this " Greek Graminar" is that of Paris, 1525, 4to. *
. CHALCONDYLES (Laonicus), was also a native of
Athens, who flourished in the latter part of the fifteenth
century, but nothing farther is known of his history, and
bis name is perpetuated only by his work " De Origine eft
rebus gesds Turcorum," Paris, 1650, fol. containing, iti
ten books, a history of the Turks from 1298 to 1462. He
describes the ruin of the empire of Constantinople, at)d at
the end are the " Annates Sultanorum," translated into
Latin by Leunclavius. There is a French translation of it
by Blaise de Vignere, 1660, 2 vols. fol. continued by
Mezerai and others. It is esteemed a work of consider-
ible aathorhy. * *
CHALES. See DECHALES.
CHA LONER (Sir Thomas), a gallant soldier, an able
statesman, and a very learned writer in the sixteenth cenr
taiy, was descended from a good family in Wales, and
born at London about 1515. His quick parts discovered
tbemselves even in his infancy ; so that his family, to pro-*
Biote that passionate desire of knowledge for which he was
so early distinguished, sent him to the university of Cam*
bridge, where he remained some years, and obtained great
credit, as well by the pregnancy of his wit as his constant
und diligent application, but especially by his happy turn
for Latin poetry, in which he exceeded most of his con-
temporaries. Upon his removing from college he cfeime
up to court, and being there recommended to the esteeni
and friendship of the greatest men about it, he was sooil
sent abroad into Germany with sir Henry Knevet, as th6
* Hodiufl de Grsects illastribus.-^Fabric. Bibl. Gnec^-^Roscoe's Lorenzo.**
Iforeri. — Saxii Onomasticon.
^ Moreri.'^Pict. Hist*
F 2
88 C a A L O N E it.
custom was in the reign of Henry VIII. when yonng itten
of great hopes were frequently employed in the service of
ambassadors, that they might at once improve and polish
themselves by travel, and gain some experience in busi-
ness. He was so well received at the court of the emperor
Charles Y. and so highly pleased with the noble and gene-
rous spirit of that great monarch, that he attended him in
his journies, and in his wars, particularly in that fatal ex-
pedition against Algiers, which cost thejives of so many
brave men, and was very near cutting short the thread of
Mr. Chaloner's ; for in the great tempest by which the
cmperor^s fleet was shattered on the coast of Barbary in
1541, the vessel, on board of which be was, suffered ship-
wreck, and Mr. Chaloner having quite wearied and ex-
hausted himself by swimming in the dark, at length beat
his head against a cable, of which laying hold with his
teeth; he was providentially drawn up into the ship to which
It belonged. He returned soon after into England, and as
a reward of his learning and services, was promoted to the
office of first clerk of the council, which he held during
the remainder of that reign. In the beginning of the next
he came into great favour with the duke of Somerset^
whom he attended into Scotland, and was in the battle of
Mussleburgb, where he distinguished himself so remarka-
bly in the presence of the duke, that he conferred upou
him the honour of knighthood Sept. 23, 1547, and after
his return to court, the duchess of Somerset presented
him with a rich jewel. The first cloud that darkened iris
patron's fortune, proved fatal to sir Thomas Chaloner's
pretensions ; for being a man of a wartn and open temper,
and conceiving the obligation he was under to the duke a^
a tie that hindered his making court to his adversary, a
stop was put to his preferment, and a vigilant eye kept
upon his actions. But his loyalty to his prince, and his
exact discharge of his duty, secured him from any farther
danger, so that he had leisure to apply himself to his
studies, and to cultivate his acquaintance with the worthiest
men of that court, particularly sir John Cheke, sir An-
thony Coke, sir Thomas Smith, and especially sir William
Cecily with whom he always lived in the strictest intimacy.
Under the reign of queen Mary he passed his time, though
safely, yet very unpleasantly ; for being a zealous protes-
taut, he could not practise any part of that complaisance
which procured some of his friends an easier life^ He
CHALONER. €9
interested himself deeply in the affair of sir John Cheke,
and did him all the service he was able, both before and
after his confinement. This had like to have brought sir
Thomas himself into trouble, if the civilities he had shewa
in king Edward's reign, to some of those who had the
greatest power under queen Mary, had not moved them,
from a principle of gratitude^ to protect him. Indeed, it
appears from his writings, that as he was not only sincere,
but happy in his friendships, and as he was never wanting
to his friends when he had power, he never felt the want
of them when he had it not, and, which he esteemed the
greatest blessing of his life, he lived to return those kind-
nesses to some who had been useful to him in that dan*
gerous season. Upon the accession of Elizabeth, he ap-
peared at court with his former lustre; and it must afford
us a very high opinion of his character as well as his capa-»
city, that he was the first ambassador named by that wise
prinbess, and that also to the first prince in Europe, Fer*
dinand I. emperor of Germany. In this negociation, which
was of equal importance and delicacy, he acquitted him-
self with great reputation, securing the confidisnce of the
emperor and his ministers, and preventing the popish
powers from associating against Elizabeth, before she
was well settled on the throne, all which she very
gratefully acknowledged. After his return from this em-
bassy, he was very soon thought of for another, which was
that of Spain ; and though it is certain the queen could
not give a stronger proof than this of her confidence in
his abilities, yet he was very f^r from thinking that it was
{iny mark of her kindness, more especially considering the
terms upon which she then stood with king Philip, and
the usage hi$ predecessor, Chamberlain, had met with at
that court. But he knew the queen would be obeyed,
and therefore undertook the business with the best grace
he could, and embarked for Spain in 1561, On his first
arrival he met with some of the treatment which he dreaded.
This was the searching of all his trunks and cabinets, of
which he complained loudly, as equally injurious to him-
self as a gentleman, and to bis character as a public mini-
ster. His complaints, however, were fruitless ; for at that
time there is great probability that his Catholic majesty
was not over desirous of having an English minister, and
Viore especially one of sir Thomas's disposition, at bis
ICQQrt, aad therefore gave him no satisfaction. Upon thi^
70 CHALONER.
sir Thomas Chaloner wrote home, set out the affront that
he had received in the strongest terms possible, and was
very earnest to be Ve-called : but the queen his mistress
contented herself with letting him know, that it was the
duty of every person who bore a public character, to bear^
with patience what happened to them, provided no per-
sonal indignity was offered to the prince from whom they
came. Yet, notwithstanding this seeming indifference on
her part, the searching sir Thomas Chaloner's trunks was,
many years afterwards, put into that public charge which
the queen exhibited against his Catholic majesty, of inju-
ries done to her before she intermeddled with the affairs of
the Low Countries. Sir Thomas, however, kept up his
spirit, and shewed the Spanish ministers, and even that
haughty monarch himself, that the queen could not have
entrusted her affairs in better hands than his. There were
some persons of very good families in England, who, for
the sake of their religion, and no doubt out of. regard to
the interest to which they had devoted themselves, desired
to have leave from queen Elizabeth to reside in the Low
Countries or elsewhere, and king Philip and his ministers
made it a point to support their suit. Upon this, when a
conference was held with sir Thomas Chaloner, he an-
swered very roundly, that the thing in itself was of very
little importance, since it was no great matter where the
persons who made this request spent the remainder of their
days ; but that considering the rank and condition of the
princes interested in this business, it was neither 6t for the
one to ask, nor for the other to gratit ; and it appeared
that he spoke the sense of his court, for queen E^lizabeth
would never listen to the proposal. In other respects he
was not unacceptable to the principal persons of the
Spanish court, who could not help admiring his talents as
a minister, his bravery as a soldier, with which in former
times they were well acquainted, his general learning an4
admirable skill in Latin poetry, of which he gave them
many proofs during his stay in their country. It was here,
at a time when, as himself says in the preface, he spent
the winter in a stove, and the summer in a barn, that he
composed his great work of " The right ordering of the
English republic.'* But though this employment might in
some measure alleviate his chagrin, yet he lell into a very
grievous fit of sickness, which brought him so low that his
physicians despaired of bis life. In this coadition he
CHALONER. 71
addressed his sovereign in an elegy after the manner of
Ovid, setting forth his earnest desire to quit Spain and
return to his native country, before care and sickness
forced him upon a longer journey. The queen granted
bis petition, and having named Dr. Man his successor in
his negociation, at length gave him leave to return home
irom an embassy, in which he had so long sacrificed his
private quiet to the public conveniency. He accordingly
returned to London in the latter end of 1564, and published
the first five books of his large work before-mentioned,
which he dedicated to his gpod friend sir William Cecil ;
but the remaining five books were probably not published
in bis life-time. He resided in a fair large house of his
own building in Cierkenwell-close, over-against the de-
cayed nunnery ; and Weever has preserved from oblivion
an elegant fancy of his, which was penciled on the frontis^-
piece of his dwelling*. He died Oct. 7, 1565, and was
buried in the cathedral church of St. Paul with great fqneral
solemnity, sir William Cecil, then principal secretary of
state, assisting as chief mourner, who also honoured his
memory with some Latin verses, in which he observes,
that the most lively imagination, the most solid judgment,
the quickest parts, and the mpst unblemished probity,
which are commonly the lot of different men, and when so
dispersed frequently create great characters, were, which
very rarely happens, all united in sir Thomas Cbaloner,
justly therefore reputed one of the greatest men of his
time. He also encouraged Dr. William Malim, formerly
fellow of King's college in Cambridge, and then master of
St. PauPs school, to collect and publish a correct editioa
ofour author's poetical works; which he accordingly did,
and addressed it fn an epistle from St. Paul's school, dated
August 1, 1579, to lord Burleigh. Sir Thomas Chaloner
married Ethelreda, daughter of Edward Frodsham of Elton,
in the county palatine of Chester, esq. by whom he had
issue his onl}' son Thomas, the subject of the next article.
This lady, not long after sir Thomas's decease, married
^ The lines are these, evidently alluding to the ruiiis of the nunnery :
Casta fideg superest, velatse lecta sorores
Isla relegatae desernere licet :
Nam venerandu'* Hymen, hic vota jupralia servat j
Vci^talemque foctm mcnte fovere studet.
'Tohtm also is ascribed the following line, under a sun-dial, at the eatraace
iato tbe nunnery :
Nod aliter pereo species quam futilis umbrse.
i2 C HA LONER-
sir * « * Brocketty notwithstanding which the lord Bui%
leigh continued his kindness to her, out of respect to that
friendship which he had for her first husband. Sir Tbo^
mas's epitaph was written by one of the best Latin poets of
that age, Dr. Walter Haddon, master of requests to queec^
^Elizabeth.
Sir Thomas was the author of several tracts, but all thaf^
can now be discovered are, 1. " A little Dictionary for
children," mentioned by Bale. 2. " The Office of Ser-
vants," translated froni the Latin of Gilbert Cognatus,
1543. 3. " Mori® Encomium," translated frojn Erasmus^
and printed in 1549. 4. "In laudem Henrici Octavi,,
regis Anglis praestantissimi, carmen panegyricum." 5.
^ De Republica Anglorum instauranda, libri decem," Lon-
dini, 1579, 4to. 6. *' De illustrium quorundam encomiis
miscellanea, cum epigrammatibus ac epitapbiis nonnullis.**
This collection of panegyrics, epigrams, and epitaphs^ is
printed with the book before-mentioned. Besides these
there are some of his letters in Haynes's Collection of
State Papers. ^
CHALONER (Sir Thomas) the younger, the son of
the former by his wife Ethelreda, daughter of Mr. Frod-
sham of Elton in Cheshire, was born in 1559, and being
very young at the time of his father's decease, and his
mother soon after marrying a second husband, he owed his
education chiefly to the care and protection of the lord^
treasurer Burleigh, by whom he was first put under the
care of Dr. Malim, master of St. Paul's school, and after*-
wards removed to Magdalen college in Oxford, where he
closely pursued his studies at the time when his father's
poetical works were published ; and as a proof of his vene-
ration for his father's friend, and gratitude for the many
kindnesses himself had received, he prefixed a dedication
to this Work to his patron the lord Burleigh. He left the
college before he took any degree, but not before he had
acquired a great reputation for parts and learning. He
had, like his father, a great talent for poetry, which he
wrote witl) niupl^ facility both in English and in Latin, but
it does not appear that he published any thing before he
left England, which was probably about the year 1580,
He visited several parts of Europe, but made the longest
«t^y in Italy, fpcmed an acquaint^ance with the gravest aod
1 Biojj. Brit..
C H A L O N'E R.
7S
> *
wisest men in that country, who very readily imparted to
him their most important discoveries in natural philosophy,
which he had studied virith much diligence ■ and attention^
At his return home, which was some time before 1584, he
appeared very much at court^ and ttras esteemed by the
greatest men there, on account of his great learning
and manners. About this time he married his first
wife, the daughter of his father's old friend sir William
Fleetwood, recorder of London, by whom he had several
children. In the year 1591 he had the honour of knight-
hood conferred uppn him, as well in regard to bis own per^
sonal merit as the great services of his father ; and some
years after, the first alum mines that were ever known to
be in this kingdom, were discovered, by his great sagacity,
not far from Gisborough in Yorkshire, wHere he had an
estate*. In the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, sir
Thomas Chaloner made a journey into Scotland, whether .
out of curiosity, with a view to preferment, or by the
direction of sir Robert Cecil, afterwards earl of Salisbury,
who was his great friend, is uncertain; but he soon grew
into such credit with king James, that the mbst consider-*
able persotis in England addressed themselves to him for
his favour and recommendation. Amongst the rest, sir
Francis Bacon, afterwards chancellor, wrote him a very
warm letter, which is still extant, which he sent him by his
friend Mr. Matthews, who ' ^as also charged with another
to the king ; a copy of which was sent to sir Thomas Cha-
loner, and Mr. Matthews was directed to deliver him the
original, if he would .undertake to present it He accom-«
^ The time when this discovery was
made is not fixed \ but from a com-
parison of circumstances it appears to
liave been about 1600, or perhaps
a little earlier. Very ooosiderable
sums of money were spent before the
project was brought to bear; which
probably was owing t(5 the difference
•of cUmateSj and that different manner
ef working, which this rendered neces-
ury. But at length, by the bringing
V^ privately Lan^ert Russell, a
Walloon, and two other workmen,
employed in this business at Rochelle
Jo France, the matter was completed,
, but very little to the profit of the pro-
prietors, since upon this it was ad-
judged to be a mine royal, 9Dd se
came into the kands of the ^^rown. ft
was then granted to sir Paul. Pindar,
under the following rent, viz. twelve
thousand five hundred pounds a year
to the king, one thousand six hundred
and forty pounds a year to the earl of
Mulgrave, and six hundred pounds a
year to ^r William Pennyman. But
notwithstanding these high rents, and
that no less than eight hundred persons
were employed in the manufacture at
a time, the farm of the alum mines
produced a vast profit to sir Paul Pin*
dar, who kept up the commodity at
the rate of twenly*six pounds a ton.
The Long Parliament voted this a
monopoly, and restored the alum works
to their original proprietDrs,
74 CHALONER.
psnied the king in his journey to England, and by bis
learning, conversation, and address, fixed himself so effec-
tually in that monarch's good gracesy that, as one of the
highest marks he cbuld give him of bis kindness and con*
fidence, he thought ^fit to intrust him with the care of
prince Henry's education, August 17, 1603, not as his
tutor, but rather governor or superintendant of his house-
hold and education. He enjoyed this honour, under several
denominations, during the life-time of that excellent
prince, whom be attended in 1605 to Oxford, and upon
that occasion was honoured with the degree of master of
arts, with many other persons of distinction. It does not
appear that he bad any grants of lands, or gifts in money,
from the crown, in consideration of his services, though
sir Adam Newton, who was preceptor to prince Henry,
appears to have received at several times the sum of four
thousand pounds by way of free gift. Sir Thomas Cha-
loner had likewise very great interest with queen Anne^
and appears to have been employed by her in her private
affairs, and in the settlement of that small estate which she
enjoyed. What relation be had to the couit , after the
death of his gracious master prince Henry, does no where
appear ; but it is not at all likely that he was laid aside.
He married some years before his death bis second wife
Judith^ daughter to Mr. William Blount of London, and
by this lady also he bad children, to whom be is said to
have left a considerable estate, which he had at Steeple*
Claydon in the county of Buckingham. He died Novem-
ber 17, 1615, and was buried in the parish church of Chis-
wick in the county of Middlesex. His eldest* son William
Chaloner, esq. was by letters patents dated July 20, in
the 18th of James I. in 1620, created a baronet, by the
title of William Chaloner of Gisborough in the county of
York, esq. which title was extinct in 1681. Few or none,
either of our historians or biographers, Anthony Wood
excepted, have taken any notice of him, though he was
so considerable a benefactor to this nation, by discovering
the alum mines, which have produced vast sums of
money, and still continue to be wrought with very great
profit. Dr. Birch, indeed, in his " Life of Henry Prince
of Wales," has given a short account of sir Thomas, and
has printed two letters of his, both of which shew him to
have been a man of sagacity and reflection. In the Lam-
helh library are also some letters of sir Thomas Chaloner' s^^
CHALONER. 75
of which there are transcripts by Dn Birch in the British
Museuta. The only publication by sir Thomas Chaloiier
is entitled *^ The virtue of Nitre, wherein is declared the
sundry cures by the same effected/' Lond. 1584, 4to. In
this he discovers very considerable knowledge of chemistry
and mineralogy. *
CHALONER (Edward), second son of the preceding,
was born in 1590 at Ohiswick in Middlesex, where his
father and mother lived and died. He was educated at
Oxford, first in Magdalen college, where he completed his
degrees in arts in 1610, and next year was chosen fellow
of All Souls. Entering into orders, he was made chap-
lain to James I. and doctor of divinity, and principal of
Alban-hall. He was reputed a very learned man for his
time, an able preacher, and good disputant. His compo-*
sitions were much valued by the greatest men then in the
church ; and the sermons which be* published in his life-*
time, as also those published after his death, in all thir«
teen, were then looked upon as choice pieces, very ser-
viceable to the church and commonwealth. He died of
the plague at Oxford, July 25, 1625, and was buried in
St. JVlary's chutch-yard, where a monument was afterwards
erected to his memory. Of his works, six of his *' Ser-
mons^' were published, Lond. 1623, 8vo; one Lond. 1624,
4to; and six after his death, Oxford, 1629, 4to. He wrote
also on " The Authority, Universality, and Visibility of
the Church," Lond. 1625, 4to, and 1638, 12mo, and left
some MSS. behind him. ^
CHALONER (Thomas), younger brother to the prece-*
ding Edward, ^was also sent to Oxford, and spent some
time there at Exeter college, after which he went abroad,'
and having travelled through France and Italy, returned
home a very well-accomplished gentleman, being much
distinguished for the vivacity of his wit, and his extensive
knowledge in all kind of polite literature : but having
contracted a dislike to the royal family, on the score of
the alum mines, of which his father had been deprived^
he joined the malcontents, and being elected member foe
Aldborough in the county of York, became an active
niember of the Long Parliament He sat as one of the
king's judges, and was elected one of the members of the
coancii of state. Upon a prospect of the king's return he
^ Brit. — ^Lodge's lUastratioDS^ vol. III. — Ath. Ox. vol. 1. — Burc|i*t
"iftce Henry. « AUi. Or. Tol. I.
« C H A L O N E R.
printed a paper, entitled " A Speech, containing a Plea
for Monarchy/' in which he hinted at some limi^tions and
restriction^. He soon after thought fit to retire to HoUand,
and was excepted out of the Act of Oblivion, atid very
soon after died at Middleburg in Zealand. ^
CHALONER (James), another brother of the pre-
ceding, was a commoner of Brazen-nose college in Oxford,
and afterwards studied in the inns of court. He was a man
of great learning, and distinguished himself as an anti-^
quary, as also by writing the History of the Isle of Man, a
manuscript copy of which was in the valuable museum of
Mr. Thoresby, of Leeds, and afterwards bought by Edr-
mondson, but it has been also printed at the end of King's
** Vale Royal of Cheshire," in 1656. He was likewise a
member of the Long Parliament, deep in the transactions
of those times, and one of the king's judges; for which,
at the restoration, he* was excepted from the benefit of
his estate, but his life spared ; and this distinction seems to
have been owing to his riot having signed the warrant for
the king's death, which his brother Thomas did. He mai:->
ried Ursula, 'daughter of sir William Fairfax, of Seeton, in
the county of York, and dying in 1661, wds succeeded in
his estate by his only son Edmund. Wood says he poi-
soned himself, when a search was making for him. One
James Chaloner made collections of arms, &c. in the city
of Chester, which, Mr. Gough informs us, came into Vin-
cent's hands; but this perhaps is one of the three Chaloners
who were herald -painters of that city, and no wise related
to sir Thomas Chaloner's family, although ib a late history
of Chester, 1791, James the herald-painter is said to.be
the author of the History of the Isle of Man. Mr. Gough
also informs us that the author of that history made collec*
tions of arms, monuments, &c. in Shrophire, which in
1700 were in the Heralds' office, numbered 230 among
Vincent's books; but they were purloined from thence
(probably when lord Oxford was collecting his library, and
gave any price for MSS.), and are now in the British Mu-
aeum, No. 2163, Harl. Cat But it appears from other
parts of the British Topography,, that even Mr. Gough
has not always kept in view the distinction between the
two James Chaloners. ^ •
' Atji. Ox. Tol. T.
» Ath. Ox. Vol. IT.— Biog, Brit.— Gougb's ^ritisji Topography.— Gent. M^.
Tol. I4XVII. p. 1087, . .'
C H A L V E T. 7T
CHALVET (Matthew de), in Latin Calventicts, pre-
sident of the Inquests of the parliament of Toulouse, was
born in May 1528. He was brought to Paris in 1539 by
Mr. Lizet his uncle, at that time advocate-general in the
parliament of Paris, who kept him six years to his studies
under Orontius Fineus, Tusan, Buchanan, and some other
learned persons. He went to Toulouse in 1546, to leara
the civil law, and lodged in the same house with Turne-
bus, Mercerus, and Govea. He travelled into Italy in
1550, in order to pursue his studies, and was Alciat's dis-
ciple at Pavia, and Socinus's at Bologna. Being returned
to France, he. went to Toulouse, and there completed his
course of law-studies, and was associated with Roaldes and
Bodinus, reading law lectures together in the public schools
with reputation. Having taken his doctor's -degree in that
nniversity, be resolved to go to Paris, in order to malice his
fortune ; but though this resolution of his was strengthened
by some letters he received from Mr. Lizet, yet he chose
ratber to settle in Toulouse, where he married, in 1552,
Jane de Bemuy, daughter of the lord de Palficat, baron of
Villeneufve. He was admitted counsellor in the parliament
of that city in 1553, afterwards created judge of French
poesy, and raaintainer of the floral sports. He was ap*
pointed president of the inquests by tlie parliament in
1573. Being of a peaceable temper, he retired to his house
in Auvergne, during the first and last furies of the civil
wars, in order that he might uot be an eye-witness of the
confusions which he saw would break out in Toulouse. It
was in tbis retirement he studied and translated Seneca^ to
administer some - consolation to himself during the wild
havock that was then making, and to employ his leisure to
adyantage. His attachment to fats sovereign gained him
the particular esteem of Henry IV. who in 1603 appointed
biiB counsellor of state and privy counsellor. The year
after, he resigned his dignity of president to Francis
Chalvet sieur de Fenouillet, one of his sonS) and retired
from business to spend the remainder of his days in peaco
and among his books. He spent two years in this retire-^
melnt, with so much satisfaction to himself, that he used
frequently to declare to his relations, that he could not say
be had lived during the previous years of his life. He died
»t Toulouse the 20th of June, 1607, being i^eventy-nine
y^n of age. Several authors have honoured him with
tulogiuna^.
78 C H A L V E T.
His '^ Translation of Seneca/* was published at Paris, .
1604, folio, and reprinted there in 1638, with a life of the
translator, and some encomiastic verses in French and
Latin. Chalvet himself wrote much French and Latin
poetry, which was not published. Huet, in his treatise
*^ De Claris interpretibus," thinks that his translation of
Seneca is too diffuse. ^
CHAMBER, or CHAMBRE (John), a learned phy-
sician in the sixteenth century, noted chiefly for being one
of the founders of the college of physicians, London, was
educated in Merton college ^n Oxford, of which he was
fellow* He took his degree of master of arts about the
year 1 502 ; after which, travelling into Italy, he studied
physic at Padua, and there took his degree of doctor in
that faculty. -After his return, he became physician to
Henry VIIL ; and with Thomas Linacre and others, found-
ed the college of physicians. Henry VHIth^s charter, for
the foundation of this college, bears date at Westminster,
September 23, 1518, and is said to have been obtained at
the request of Dr. John Chamber, Thomas Linacre, Fer-
nandez de Victoria, his physicians ; and of Nicolas Halse^
well, John Fraunces^ and Robert Yaxley, of the same fa-
culty : but especially through the intercession and inte-
rest of cardinal Wolsey. The first college of this society
was in Knight Rider-street, being the gift of Dr. Linacre.
Afterwards they removed to Amen-corner, where they
bought an fa9use and ground : but the house being burnt
down in 1666, the fellows purchased a large piece of
ground in Warwick-lane, upon which they erected the
present college. The number of fellows at first was but
thirty. Charles IL at their request, augmented the num-
ber to forty. And James IL in their new charter, was
pleased to increase the number to eighty, and not to ex-
ceed. To the college belong, at present, a president, four
censors, and twelve electors.
Dr. Chamber, being in holy orders, became in 15 10
canon of Windsor, and in 1524 archdeacon of Bedford, and
was likewise prebendary of Comb and Harnham in the
cathedral church of Sarum. In 1525 he was elected war-
den of Merton college; and about the same time wa&
made dean of the royal chapel and college adjoining to
Westminster- hall, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St^
i . . .- .
> GeD. Diet. — Moreri.
CHAMBER. 7^
Stephen. He built to it a very curious cloister, at the
expence of 11,000 marks, and gave the canons of that
chapel some lands, which he saw, upon the dissolution of
the monasteries, taken into the king^s hands. Afterwards
he was made treasurer of Wells cathedral, beneficed in
Somersetshire and Yorkshire, and probably had other
dignities and preferments. October 29, 1531, he was in-
corporated doctor of physic at Oxford. In May 1 543, he
i^signed his treasurership of Wells ; and his wardenship
of Merton college in 1545. He died in 1549. He never
published any thing. *
CHAMBERLAIN (John), esq. was born about the mid-
dle of January 1552, and was educated at Cambridge.
To the knowledge of the learned languages, which he cul-
tivated there, he added that of the French and Italian. He
enjoyed great intimacy with the most considerable men in
England, with sir Henry Savile, bishop Andrews, sir
Thomas Bodley, sir Thomas Edmondes, sir Dudley Carle-
ton, and sir Ralph Winwood. In the confidence of thd
last of these he had a very great share, while that honest
and able minister was secretary of state, and the character
of the latter appears in a very advantageous light in the
letters of Mr. Chamberlain. Having a fortune sufficient
to satisfy a quiet and unambitious temper, he enjoyed the
satisfactions of private life in the society of his friends till
a good, old age, dying after the year 1626, and before April
1631, for his name ' does not appear among those of the
commissioners for the repairing of St. PauPs, in the se-
cond commission dated the 10th of that month, though he
had been appointed a commissioner in the first. His cor*-
respondence is in the British Museum.'
CHAMBERLAYNE (Edward) was descended from an
ancient family, and born at Odington in Gloucestershire^
16i<6. He was educated at Gloucester ; became a com-
moner of St. Edmund-hall in Oxford in 1634 ; took both
his degrees in arts ; and was afterwards appointed rhetoric .
reader. During the civil war in England, he made the
tour of Europe. In 1658 he married the only daughter
of Richard Clifford, esq. by whom he had nine children.
In 1668 he was chosen F. R. S. and in 1669 attended
Charles earl of Carlisle, sent to Stockholm with the ordet
of the garter to the king of Sweden, as his secretary. la
^ Biog. Brit.-— Atb. Ox. vol. 1.
* Maty's Review, vol. V. p. 130. Irom llr. Kirch's MSS.
<0 CHAMBERLAYNE.
1670 the degree of LL. T)i was conferred on' him at Cam*
bridge^ and two years after he was incorporated in the
same at Oxford. He was appointed to be tutor to Henry
/duke of Grafton^ one of the natural sons of Charles II.
about 1679 ; and was afterwards appointed to instruct
prince George of Denmark in the English tongue. He
.died at Chelsea in 1703^ and was buried in a yauit in the
<burch-yard of that parish ; where a monument was soon
after erected to bis memory, by Walter Harris, M. O. witji
a Latin inscription, which informs us, among other things^
that Dr. Chamberlayne was so desirous of doing service to
all, and even to posterity, that he ordered some of the
books he had written to be covered with wax, and buried
with him ; which have been since destroyed by the damp.
The six .books vanity or dotage thus consigned to the grave^
are, 1. ^^ The present war paralleled ; or a brief relation of
the five years' civil wars of Henry III. king of England,
with the event and issue of that unnatural wa^, and by what
course the kingdom was then $»ettled ag^in ; extracted out
of the most authentic historians and records,'' 1647. It
was reprinted in 1660, under this title, ^^ The late war
paralleled, or a brief relation," &c. 2. ^^ England's vt^ants;
or several proposals probably beneficial for England, offer*,
ed to the consideration of both houses of parliament,"
1667. 3. "The Converted Presbyterian ; or the church
of England justified in some practices," &c* 1668. 4-.
*^ AnglioB Notitia ; or the Presejit State of England ; with
divers. reflections upon the ancient state thereof," 1668*
The second part was published in 1671, &c. This work
bas gone through many editions ; the first twenty of wkich
were published by Dr. Edward Chamberlain, and the rest
by his son. 5. " An academy or college, wherein young
ladies or gentlewomen may, at a very moderate expence^
be educated in the true protestant religion, and in all vir-
tuous qualities that may adorn that sex, &c." 1671. 6.
** A Dialogue between an Englishman and a Dutchman,
iConceming the last Dutch war," 1672. He translated out
of Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, into English, 1. " The
rise and fall of count Olivarez the favourite of Spain." 2^
<^ The unparalleled imposture of Mich, de Molina, exe«-
i^uted at Madrid," 1641. 3. "The right and title of the
present king of Portugal^ don John the IVth." These
three translations were printed at London, 1653.^
< Biog.
CHAMBERLAYNE. 8l
CHAMBERLAYNE (Johk)i son to the preceding, wa«
admitted into Trinity college, Oxford, 1685; but it does
not appear that be took any degree. He continued bis
father's ** Auglie Notida," or ^ Present State," as long
. as he lived, and it was continued after his death until 1755,
which, we believe, is the last edition* He translated, 1.
from French and Spanish, *^ The manner of making Tea,
Coffee, and Chocolate, London," 1685, 8vo. 2, From
Italian into English, ** A Treasure of Health,'' London,
1686, 8vo, written by Castor Durant de Gualdo, physician
aod citizen of Rome. 3. ^^ The Arguments of the books
and chapters of the Old and New Testament, with practi*
cal observations ; written originally in French, by the rer.
, Mr. Ostervald, professor of divinity, and one of the mi-
nisters of the church ^t Neufchatel in Swi$serland,%and by
him presented to the society for promoting Christian
knowledge^" Lond. 1716, &c. 3 vols. 8vo. Mr. Chamber-
layne was a member of that society. 4. ^^ The Lives of
the French Pbitosophers, translated from the French of M*
de Fontanel le, republished since in 1721, under, the title
of << Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris^
epitomized, with the lives of the late members of that so-^
ciety,^' dvo. 5. << The Religious Philosopher j or, the
aright use of contemplating the works of the Creator, &c*
translated from the original Dutch of Dr. Nieuwentyt,''
Lond. 1718, &c. 3 vols. 8vo, reprinted several times since
in 8vo, and once in 4to. 6. ^^ The History of the Refor-
mation in and about the Low Countries, translated from the
Dutch of Gerrard Brandt," Lond. 1721, &c. 4 vols, foh
7. ^'The Lord's Prayer in 100 languages, 8vo, which is
erroneously attributed by Mr. Whiston the bookseller, in a
MS note in his copy of this Dictionary, to a Thomas Cham-
berlayne. 8. '^ Dissertations historical, critical, theolo-
gical, and moral, on the most memorable events of the
Old and New Testaments ; wherein the spirit of the sacred
writings is shewn, their authority confirmed, and the sen-
timents of the primitive fathers, -as well as the modern
critics, with regard to the difficult passages therein, con-
sidered and compared ; vol. L comprising the events related
in the Books of Moses : to which are added, chronological
tables, fixing the date of each event, and connecting the
several dissertations togisther," 1723, folio. He lij^ewise
was elected ]^. R. S. in 1702, and communicated three
pieces, inserted in the Philosophical Transactions ; one,
Vol. IX. G
84 CHAMBERS.
died at Paris in 1592, much regretted by all who knew hitir.
His wotks, which were published in one vol. 8vo, Paris,
1579, and which relate to the succession to the crown, the
fight of Mary to that of England, &c. consist of, 1. " His-
toire abreg6e de tons les Roys de France, Angleterre, et
Escosse." 2. " La recherche des singularitez plus re-
markables concernant le estat d'Ecosse." 3. " Discours
de la legitime succession des femmes aux possessions de
leurs parens, et du government des princesses aux empires
et royaumes.'* Machenzie gives a full analysis of all these,
but bishop Nicolson has not so high an opinion of the
soundness of the author*s principles. Dempster and others
highly extol his learning and character. '
CHAMBERS (Ephraim), author of the scientific dic-
tionary which goes under his name, was born at Kendal
in the county of Westmorland, the youngest of three bro-
thers! His parents were dissenters of the presbyterian
persuasion^; and not quakers, as has been reported; and
their occupation was that of farming. He was sent early
to Kendal school, where he received a good classical edu-
cation. But his father, who had already placed his eldest
son at Oxford, and x^ould not afford the same expence a
second time, determined to bring up Ephraim to trade.
He was accordingly, at a proper age, sent to London, and
spent some time in the shop of a mechanic in that city ;
but, having an aversion to the business, he tried another, to
which he was equally averse, and was at last put appren-
tice to Mr. Senex the globe-maker, a business which is
connected with literature, and especially with astronomy
and geography. It was during Mr. Chambers's residence
with this skilful mechanic, that he contracted that taste
for science and learning whiqh accompanied him through
life, and directed all his pursuits, and in which his master
▼ery liberally encouraged him. It was even at this time
that he formed the design of his grand work, the *' Cyclo-
jpsBdia ;" and some of the first articles of it were written be-
hind the counter. Having conceived the idea of so great
an undertaking, he justly concluded that the execurion of
it would not consist with the avocations of trade ; and,
therefore, he quitted Mr. Senex, afid took chambers at
Gray*s-inn, where he chiefly resided during the rest of his
days. The first edition of the " Cyclopaedia," which was
1 Miichenzie''s Scotch writers, toI. III.— Nicolson's Scotch Library.
CHAMBERS.
«5
* •
lite result of many years intense application, appeared in
1728, in 2 vols, folio. It was published by subscription,
the price being 4/. 4^. ; and the list of subscribers was very
numerous. The dedication, to the king, is dated Oct. -l^y
1727. The reputation that Mr. Chambers acquired by bis
executioti of this undertaking, procured him the honour of
being elected F. R. S. Nov. 6, 1729. In less than ten
years' time, a second edition became necessary ; which
accordingly was printed, with corrections and additions,
in 1758*. It having been intended, at first, to give a new
work instead of a new edition, Mr. Chambers bad prepare4^
a considerable part of the copy with that view, and more
than twenty sheets were actually printed off. The purpose
of the proprietors, according to this plan, was to have
' published a volume in the winter of 1737, and to have
proceeded annually in supplying an additional volume, till
the whole was completed. But from this design they were
diverted, by the alarm they took at an act then agitated ia
parliament, in which a clause was contained, obliging the
publishers of all improved editions of books to print the
improvements separately. The bill, which carried in it
the appearance of equity, but which, perhaps, might bav^
created greater obstructions to the cause of literature than
a transient view of it could suggest, passed the bouse of
commons, but was rejected in the house of lords. In aa
advertisement prefixed to the second edition of the '^^ Cyclq-
paedia,'' Mr. Chambers endeavoured to obviate the con)-
plaints of such readers as might hav^ been led to expect
(from a paper of his published some time before) a. new
work, instead of a new edition. So favourable- was the
public reception of the second edition of Chambers's dic-
tionary, that a third was called for in the very next year,
1739 ; a fourth two years afterwards, in 1741 ; and a fifth
in 1746. This rapid sale of so large and expensive a work,
is not easily to be paralleled in the history of literature :
and must be considered, not only as a striking testimoiiy
* Some years afterwards, when he
was in France for the recovery of his
^kealth, he received an intimation, that
if be would publish a new edition there,
and dedicate it to Lewis XV. he would
%e Uberally rewarded : but these pro*
|K»sals, says our informant, his British
iejutjcceived with disdain^ and he re«
jected the teaming solicitation of men
who were provoking him to a sordid
retractation of the compliments he
had paid to his lawful sovereign. Ge|kt«
Mag. vol. LV. p. C71, an article from
which we have been enabled to correct
■ and improve the account fonnerly
jglven of Mr. Chambers.
S6 CHAMBERS.
of the general estimation in which it is held, but likewise
as a strong proof of its real utility and merit
Although the ** Cyclopeedia^' was the grand business of
Mr. Chambers^s life, and may be regarded as almost the
sole foundation of his fame, his attention was not wholly
tonfined to this undertaking. He was concerned in a
periodical publication entitled ^^ The Literary Magazine,''
which was begun in 1735, and continued for a few years,
containing a review of books on the analytical plan. In
this work he wrote a variety of articles, and particularly a
review of Morgan's " Moral Philosopher.'* He was en-
gaged likewise, in conjunction with Mr. John Marty n,
'F. R. S« and professor of botany at Cambridge, in pre-
paring for the press a translation and abridgment of the
** Philosophical history and memoirs of the royal academy
of sciences at Paris; or an abridgment of all the papers
relating to natural philosophy which have been published
by the members of that illustrious society." This under-
taking, when completed, was comprised in five volumes,
8vo, which did not appear till 1742, some time after our
author's decease, when they were published in the joint
names of Mr. Martyn and Mr. Chambers. Mr. Martyn, in
a subsequent publication, passed a severe censure upon the
^are which his fellow-labourer had in the abridgment of
the Parisian papers; which, indeed, he appears to have
executed in a very slovenly manner, and to have been un-
acquainted with the FVench terms in natural history. The
only wOrk besides, that we find ascribed to Mr. Chambers,
is a translation of the *' Jesuit's Perspective," from the
French ; which was printed in 4to, and has gone through
several editions. How indefatigable he was in his literary
and scientific collections, is manifest from a circumstance
which used to be related by Mr. Airey, who was so well
known to many persons by the vivacity of his temper and
conversation, and his bold avowal of the principles of in-
fidelity. This gentleman, in the very early part of his life,
was five years (from 1728 to 1733) amanuensis to Mi^. Cham-
bers ; and, during that time, copied nearly 20 folio vo-
lumes, so large as to comprehend materials, if they had
been published, for printing 30 volumes in the same size.
Mr. Chambers however acknowledged, that if they were
printed, they would neither be sold nor read. His close
and unremitting attention to his studies at length impaired
his health, and obliged him occasionally to take a lodging
CHAMBERS; Sf
at CitDonbury«*hoase9 Islington. This not Iiaving greatly
t;ontributed to bis recovery, he made an excursion to the
south of France, of wiiich he left an account in MS. but
did not reap that benefit from the journey which be had
himself hoped and his friends wished. Returning to £ng«
land in the autumn of 1739, he died at Canonbury-house^
atid was buried at Westminster ; where the following in^
scription, written by himself, is placed on the north side of
the cloisters of the abbey :
^' M uUis pervulgatus,
Paucis notus;
Qui vitam^ inter lucem et imibram>
Neceruditus^ necidiota^
literis deditua, trainegit ; sad ut homo
• Qm humani nihil a se alknum putat.
Vita simuly et laboribus functus^
Hie requiescere voluit^
Ephraim Chambers, R. S. S.
Obiit XV Mail, mdccxl."
His writings were those of a man who had a sound judg«^
meot, a clear and strong memory, a ready invention, an
easy method of arranging his ideas, and who neither spared
time nor trouble. His lite was spent rather in the company
of books than men, and bia pen was oftener employed than
bis tongue : his style is in general good, and his defini««
tions clear and unaffected. In languag/e he applied ratbec
to the judgment than to the ear; and if he deserves to be
censured for baldness, it should also be remembered how
difficult technical expression is, which must be accommo*^
dated at once to the scholar and the artificer. In his epis-^
tolary correspondence, some specimens of which may be
seen in the Gentleman's Magazine, he was lively and easy«,
His personal character had many peculiarities. Whati
we record with most regret is that his religious sentioienta
leaned to infidelity, although it has been said in excas^
that he avoided propagating his opinions, and certainly did
nQ% introduce them in his writings. His mode of Ufa
was reserved, for he kept little company, and no table. Aq
intimate friend who called on him one mprning, was asked
by him to stay and dine. '^ And what will you give me^
^braim ?'' said the gentlem^^ '^ I dare engage you have
nothing for dinner;^' to which Mr. Chambers oalmly re<r
plied, ** Yes, I have a fritter ; and if you'll stay with me,
I'll have two." yet, though thus inattentive tobimself, he
S8 CHAM BE R S.
was very generous to the poor. He was likewise suflScielitly
conscious of his defects in social qualities, and when urged
to marry that ^ he might then have a person to look after
him, which his health required, he replied somewhat has-*
tily, <^ What ! shall I mstke a woman miserable, to contri-
bute to my own ease ? For miserable she must be the mo«
ment she gives her hand to so unsocial a being as myself.*'
It has been said in former accounts of Mr. Chambers,
that he was not treated in' the most liberal manner by the
booksellers with whom be was concerned; but this waa
far from being the case, as he experienced the most gene-
rous behavioar from them. It is true that the price of
literary labour was not then so high as it has since risen,
but he was paid up to the standard of his time. Among
his employers Mr. Longman in particular (grand uncle of
the present Mr. Longman) used him with great liberality
and tenderness; his house was ever open to receive him, and
when he was there, every attention was paid to his pecn-
liarities ; and during his illness, jellies and other proper
jrefreshments were industriously left for him at those places
where it was least likely he should avoid seeing theml
When we consider that he was a single man, with few wants
and fewer wishes, and that by the assistance of his friends
he was enabled to live happily, and die at last possessed of
considerable property, he can scarcely be deemed unsuc«*
cessful. Every deficiency he supplied by ceconomy ; and
in pecuniary matters he was remartwably exact. In his last
will, made not long before his death, and which it has been
erroneously said was never proved, he declared that he
owed no debts, excepting to bis tailor for his rocquelaure.
We have already mentioned that the " Cyclopaedia"
came to a fifth edition in 1746. After this, whilst a sixth
edition was in agitation, the proprietors thought that the
work might admit of a supplement, in two additional folio
volumes : this supplement, which was published in the
joint names of Mr. Scott and Dr. Hill, though containing a
number of valuable articles, was far from being uniformly
conspicuous for its exact judgment and due selection ; a
small part only of it being executed by Mr« Scott, and Dr.
Hill's task having been discharged with his usual rapidity.
Thus the matter rested for some years, when the pr4h
prietors determined to combine the whole into one work ;
and after several inefFectaal efforts for accomplishing their
plan, the business devolved on the rev* Dr. Abraham Rees^
9
C H A M B E R S. t*
F. R. S. who derived from the favour of the |)ublic9 and th^
singularly rapid and extensive sale of the work, a recom«
peuse, which, independently of every other consideration,
he reckoned amply adequate to his labour. This edition
began to be published in weekly numbers in 1778, and the
publication was continued without a single interruption,
till it was completed in the year 1785. The work was
dedicated aad presented to his majesty. The popularity
of the ** Cyclopaedia*' gave rise to a ^variety of similar puln
lications ; of many of which it may be truly said, that most
of the articles which compose, them, are extracted ver^
batun, or at least with very few alterations and additions,
from this dictionary; and that they manifest very little
labour of research, or of compilation. One defect seems
to have .been common to them all, with hardly any excep-
tion ; and that is, that they do not furnish the reader with
references to the sources from which their materials are
derived, and the authorities upon which they depend. This
charge was alleged by the editors of the French Encyclo«
pedie, with some justice, but at the same time with un«-
w^rrantable acrimony, against Mr. Chambers. The editors
joi that work, while they pass high encomiums on Mr.
Chambers's Cyclopaedia, blend with them censures thatare
unfounded. They say, e. ^. that the ^^ merited honours it
has received would, perhaps, never have been produced
at all, if, before it appeared in English, we had not had in
our own tongue those works, from which Chambers has
dra^n without measure, and without selection, the greatest
part of the articles of which his dictionary is cqmposed*
This being the case, what must Frenchmen think of a mere
translation of that work? It must excite the indignation of
the learned, and give just offence to the public, to whom,
under a new and pompous title, nothing is presented but
riches of which they have a long time been in possession ?'*
They add, however, after appropriate and justly deserved
commendation ; <^ We agree with him, that the plan and
the design of his dictionary are excellent, and that, if it
were executed to a certain degree of perfection, it would
idone contribute more to Che progress of true science, than
one half of the books that are known." However, what
their vanity has led them to assert, viz. that the greatest
part of Chambers's Cyclopaedia is compiled from French
authors, is not true. When Mr. Chambers engaged ip hif
great undertaking, he extended his researches for materials to
§0 CHAMBERS.
tL variety of publications, foreign and domestic, and in the
matbematical articles be was peculiarly indebted to Wol-
fins : and it cannot be questioned, that he availed himself
no less of the excellent writers of hi« native land than those
of France. As to the imperfections of which they com*
plain, they were in a great measure removed, as science
advaiftced, by subsequent improvements; nor could the
work, in its last state, be considered as the production of
a single person. Nevertheless it cannot be conceived,
that any scientific dictionary, comprised in four volumes,
should attain to the full standard of human wishes and
human imagination. The proprietors, duly sensible of
this circumstance, and of the rapid progress of literature
and science in the period that has elapsed since the publi-^
eation of Chambers^s '^ Cyclopedia,** have undertaken a
work on a much larger scale, which, with the encourage^
ment already received and further reasonably expected^
will, it is hoped, preclude most of the objections urged
against the former dictionary. Of this a very considerable
proportion has already been published, and the editor bids
fair to accomplish what was once thought impossible. The
learned Mr. Bowyer once conceived an extensive idea of
improving Chambers^s Cyclopiedia, on which his corre-
spondent Mr. Clarke observes, " Your project of improving
and correcting Chambers is a very good one ; but alas ! who
can execute it ? You should have as many undertakers as
professions ; nay, perhaps as many antiquaries as there are
different branches of ancient learning.** This, in fact,
which appeared to Mr. Clarke so impracticable, has been
accomplished under Dr. Rees's management, by combining
the talents of gentlemen who have made the various
sciences, arts, &c. their peculiar study.— ^f the contem->
jporary Cyclopedias, or Encyclop»dias, it may be suffi-
cient to notice in this place, that printed at Edinburgh
under the title of '^ Encyclopcedia Britannica,** the plan
of which is different from that of Dr. Rees, but which has
been uncommonly successful, a third edition (in twenty
vols» 4to) being now in the press ; and one begun by Dr.
Brewster oh a lesser scale, seems to be edited with qare and
accuracy. '
1 Biog. Brit— Nichols's Bowyer.-- Gent. Mag. see Index, and vol LVII,
p. 314, 381.— Marty u^s Dissertations on the ^neids, Appendix to the Preface^
No. 19.— Rees*s CyclopsBdia,
CHAMBERS. 91
CHAMBERS (Sir Robert), for several years chirf
JQstice of the supreme court of judicature in Bengal, a oiati
of too exalted merit to be passed with a slight notice, was
bom in 1737, at Newcastle on Tyne, the eldest son of Mf«
Robert Chambers, a respectable attorney of that town.
He was educated, as well as his brothers, at the school of
Mr. Moises in Newcastle, which had also the honour of
training his younger friends sir William Scott and the
present lord chancellor, whose attachment to him, thus
oommenced almost in infancy, was continued not only
witbout abatement, but with much increase, to the verjr
end of 'bis life. Mr. Chambers, and the Scotts afterwards^
went to Oxford without any other preparation than was
afforded by this Newcastle school, but his abilities sooli
rendered him conspicuous; and in July 1754 he was chosen
an exhibitioner of Lincoln college. He afterwards became
a fellow of University college, where he was again united
with the Scotts, and with other eminent men, among whom
it Biay suffice to mention sir Thomas Plomer and the
late sir William Jones. In January 1762, Mr. Chambers
was elected by the university Vinerian professor of the
laws of England ; a public testimony to his abilities, of the
strongest and most unequivocal nature. In 17^6, the eaxl
of Lichfield, then chancellor of Oxford, gave him the
appointment of principal of New-inn hall ; which office, as
it required no residence or attendance, he continued to
bold through life. He was now advancing honourably in
the practice of the law, and was employed in many re<-
markable causes, in which bis professional abilities were
evinced. About the same period, and probably by the
same means, he attracted the notice and lasting friendship
of the ablest men of the time, many of whose names have
since been absorbed in weiUeamed titles of nobility.
Among these may be mentioned, the earls Bathurst, Mans-
field, Liverpool, and Rossiyn, lords Ashburtoi^, Thurlow,
Auckland, and Alvanley ; to which list we may add the
names of Johnson, Burke, Goldsmith, Garrick, and others
of that class, whose judgment of mankind was as accurate
as their own talents were conspicuous. At Oxford, he en-
joyed the intimacy of Thurlow, afterwards bishop of Dur-
bam : and his Vinerian lectures were attended by many
popils, who have since done honour to the profession of
^e laW| or to other public situations. .
32 CHAMBERS.
It is a strong proof that bis knowledge and talents were
highly estimated at an early period, that in 1768, when he
was only thirty-one years old, he was offered the appointr
ment of attorney-general in Jamaica, which, from various
considerations, be thought proper to decline. From this
time he continued the career of his profession, and of his
academical labours, till, in 1773, another situation of pub-
lic trust and honour was proposed to him, which he was
more easily induced to accept. This was the appointment
of second judge to the superior court of judicature in Ben-
gal, then first established. On this occasion, the esteem
and regard of the university of Oxford for their Vinerian
professor was fully evinced. The convocation allowed
three years for the chance of his return, from ill health or
any other cause : during which interval his office was held
for him, and his lectures read by a deputy. Immediately
before his departure for the East Indies, Mr. Chambelrs
married Miss Wilton, the only daughter of the celebrated
statuary of that name, and his mother, Mrs. Chambers, a
woman of uncommon virtues, talents, and accomplishments,
undertook the voyage with them, and continued an inmate
in their family till her death, which happened in 17.32.
They sailed for India in April, 1774; and the climate not
proving unfriendly, the Vinerian professorship was in due
time resigned.
The honour of knighthood was. not conferred on Mr.
Chambers at the time of his appointment, but, within four
years after, was sent out to him unsolicited, as an express
mark of royal approbation. How well his original nomi-
nation, and his subsequent advancement to the. office. of
chief justice were deserved, it is not necessary here to
demonstrate. They who acted with him, orVere present
in any arduous discussions, can bear witness how often his
mild but convincing arguments contributed most essen-
tially to the public service. Without taking a violent part
in any contentions of politics, sir Robert Chambers was
steady in pursuing the course which his mature judgment
approved ; and, in all the struggles that arose, no oppo-
nent ever ventured to insinuate a doubt of his integrity.
The unfortunate loss of the Grosvenor East Indiaman^ in
1782, was a calamity in which the private share of .sir
Robert Chambers was disproportionately heavy. He lost
his eldest son, a promising youth, then going to England
CHAMBERS. ffi
tor edacation ; and the uncertain circumstances of the case
left to imagination the most dreadful materials for conjee^
tare.- In this, as in every other situation, in proportion to
the exigence, the firm and truly Christian piety of sir
Bobert Chambers afforded a great example ; and he ap-
peared a worthy son of that excellent national church,
which, on some occasions, he had strenuously defeiided
while he was an advocate. On the resignation of sir Elijah
Impey," in 1791, sir Robert Chambers was advanced to the
office of chief justice : and in 1797 he became president of
the Asiatic society. At length, after having remained in
India twenty-five years, he also obtained permission to
resign, and was succeeded by sir John Anstruther.
He returned to England in 1799, but in a state of health
which forbade the expectation of enjoying his friends and
fais well-earned leisure. In the autumn of 1802 his lungs
were so much affected that he was advised to winter in the
inilder air of France, and was to have proceeded to the
southern provinces : but the season was then too far ad-
vanced, and he remained at Paris, where, after a partial
recovery, ' he had an attack of a paralytic nature, and died
May 9, 1803. The body was brought to England, and
interred on the 23d of the same month in the Temple
church. He had been a bencher of the Middle Temple,
and his funeral was attended by a considerable number of
thCit society, and many private friends.
Sir Robert Chambers had that love for books which na-
turally arises from a sound education and early habits of
study. His collection, therefore, was considerable, and
his knowledge proportionally-extensive. Even at the close
of his life, of which so large a part had b6en engaged in
the practice or administration of the laws, he had not lost
his academical accomplishments : and a Latin epitaph on
his friend sir William Jones, inscribed by Flaxman on a
monument erected 'tft Oxford in 1H03, may testify that the
cares of the judge had not obliterated the studies of the
professor. His collection of Oriental books was particu*
larly valuable. That his fortune, after so long continuance
in office, was extremely moderate, must be considered as
an important topic of his praise, since it was occasioned
by his strict integrity and extensive bounty. He received
no presents, and he gave abundant charities. On his re-
signation^ therefore, he could not attempt to decline the
M CHAMBERS,
pension which parliament has now assigned to the judges
of India, after a much less period of service. ^
., CHAMBERS (Sir William), an eminent architect, waa
a native of Sweden, but originally descended from tha
family of Chalmers in Scotland, barons of Tartas, in France.
His grandfather was an opulent merchant, who supplied
the armies of Charles XII. with money and military stores,
9,ud suffered considerably in his fortune by being obliged
to receive the base coin issued by that monarch. Thia
circumstance occasioned his son to reside many years ia
Sweden, in order the more effectually fo prosecute his p^
euniary claims.. The subject of this article was born in
that country, and for what reason is not known, was
brought over from Sweden in 172S, at the age of two years,
and placed at a school at Kippon, in Yorkshire. His firs(
entrance into life was as a supercargo to the Swedish East
India company* In this capacity he made one voyage to
China ; and, it appears, lost no c^porttinity pf observing
what was curious in that country. At the age of eighteen,
however, he quitted this profession, and with it ail com-r
mercial views, to follow the bent of his inclination, which,
led him to design and architecture.
His first residence in London was in Poland-street, but
not, as has been asserted, in the business of a carpenter.
At a very early period of bis life he was considered as one
of the best architects and draughtsmen in Europe ; and his
abilities introduced him to the patronage of the late Joha
earl of Bute, by whose interest he was appointed to be
drawing master to his present majesty, then prince of
Wales* The first ^ork of consequence in which he was
engaged was the villa of the late earl of Besborough, at
Roehampton, in Surry. He delivered to his lordship his
plan as architect, and bb estimate as surveyor, and, on
being applied to afterward to know whjether he would uu**
dertake to complete the building himself for the money
mentioned in the estimate, he readily consented, and, in
the execution of his contract, gave and received that sa-
tisfaction which seldom fails to result from the happy con*
currence of professional taste and skill with the most dis-r
tiuguished character for punctuality and probity. His
conduct on this occasion became the most honourable in--
1 From a pamuhlet privately priated, and eutiUed ** A few Memorials of tbe
late sir Robert Chambers, Imt." obligingly eommniitcated to Ihe editor by Mr,
Nichols.
CHAMBERS. 9$
tiodactioQ to con$iderabIe ediploym^rit aknong the nobility
and gentry.
As an aotbor, Mr. Chambers viery soon distinguished
biofiseif. In 1759 be published ^^, Designs for Chinese
Buildings/' and a '^ Treatise on Civil Architectute.*' Soon
after bis present majesty's accession to the throne, he was
employed to lay out and improve the royal gardens ait
Kew. The result of his labours appeared in 1765, in a
splendid publication in large folio, entitled *^ Plans, ele-
vations, sections, and perspective views of the Gardens
and Buildings at Kew in Surry, the seat of her royal high*-
oesi the princess of Wales," In the execution of this
magnificent work, the talents of several of our ablest de-
signers and engravers are eminently displayed : the archt*^
tectural designs being drawn by Mr. Chambers, the figures
by Cipriani^ and the views by Kirby, Thomas Sandby, and
Marlow. The engravings were executed by Paul Sandby,
Wooliett, Major, Grignion, Rooker, and others. The plates
were, consequently, universally admired, but with reapeeH
to the designs, the greater part were considered rather as
objects of curiosity than of taste ; and Mr. Chambers him^
seM^ as if apprehensive that the style of decoration he had
adopted would be censured, anticipates the objections by
an apology for the disadvantages of situation under which
helaboui^d* ^^ The gardens at Kew," he observes, <*are
not very large : nor is their situation by any means ad«
vantageous, as it is low, and commands no prospects.
Originally, the ground was one continued dead flat : the
soil was, in general, barren,' and without either wood or
water. ' With so many disadvantages, it was not easy to
produce any thing even tolerable in gardening; but princely
munificence, and an able director, have overcome all dif-*
ficulties, and converted what was once a desert into an
Eden."
Such is the apology of Mr. Chambers ; and it must be
ackuowledged, perhaps, that these gardens are laid out as^
well as the nature of the place would permit ; but, with
regard to the ornaments and buildings, it cannot be suf-
ficiently regretted, that a fondness for the unmeaning fal.-
kalas of Turkish and Chinese chequer-work should prevail
over a taste for the beautiful models of Grecian and Rooian
architecture. It is yet more to be regretted that our ar^
ckitect proved in a subsequent publication that he was not
•0 much constrained by the situation of the place^ as im-
96 CHAMBERS.
pelled by an irresistible predilection for the Chinese mtfd^
of gardening.
In 177} I Mr. Chambers was announced in the catalogue
of the royal academy as a knight of the Swedish order of
the Polar Star ; and the following year he published the
work just alluded to, and entitled *< A Dissertation on
Oriental Gardening/* 4to. The design of this work is to
demonstrate, that notwithstanding the boasted improvement
of our national taste in ornamental gardening, we are yet in
a state of ignorance and barbarism with respect to this
pleasing art, of which the Chinese alone are masters. In
the preface be says, that bis acct)unt of the Chinese man-
ner of gardening was collected from his own observations
in China, from conversations with their artists, and remarks
transmitted to him at different times by travellers. Be-
sides sir William's failure in proving his main point, this
publication was very unlucky in another respect. A sketch
of it had been published some years before ; but the per-
formance itself appearing immediately after the publica-
tion of Mr. Mason's <* English Garden,'' it was suggested^
very invidiously perhaps, that our author's intention was
to depreciate the designs of our English gardeners, in order
to divert his sovereign from his plan of improving Rich-
mond gardens into the beautiful state in which they novir
appear. The strange and horrible devices described in
thi^ <^ Dissertation^' have been much ridiculed, but are no
more than what had been before published by father Attiret,
in his account of the emperor of China's gardens, near
Pekin, translated by Mr Spence (under the assumed lite-
rary name of sir Harry Beaumont) in 1753, and since re-
published in Dodsley's " Fugitive Pieces.'* In whatever
lighty however, the ^' Dissertation" might be considered, it
was certainly productive of amusement, and the cause of
gardeners and gardening was amply revenged by a publi-
cation which appeared next year, and was generally at-
tributed to Mr. Mason, entitled ^^ An Heroic Epistle to
sir William Chambersi, knt, comptroller-general of his
majesty's works, and author of a late Dissertation on Ori^
ental Gardening ; enriched with explanatory notes, chiefly
extracted from that elaborate performance." A vein o(
solemn irony, and delicate yet keen satire, runs through
this poetical commentary ; and sir William's principles of
design in gardening, or rather the Oriental principles,
which lie had so fondly adopted, are treated with very
CHAMBERS. St
Jittle respect It was followed in 1774, by ** Atl Hbroic
Postscript."
In 1775, sir W. Chardbers was appointed to conduct th^
building of that greiat national work, Somerset-place. This
appointment was worth 2000/. a year to him, nor was he
too liberally rewarded. The terrace behind this magnifi-
cent building is a bold effort of conception. His designs
for interior arrangements were excellent, but his staircases
were his niaster-piieces,- particularly those belonging to the
royal and Antiquary societies. He did not live, however, to
S6e the whole Bnished according to the original plan, and
all intention of completing what would be truly a national
honour, and a great ornament to the metropolis, seems n6w
to be given up. Sir William, however, continued foi?
many years in the highest rank of his profession, arid be-
sides beirtg architect to the king, he was surveyor-general
of his majesty's board of works, treasurer of the royal
academy, F: R. S. and F. S* A. and member of the royal
academy of 'arts at Florence, and of the royal acadetny of
architecture at Paris.
Previously to his death, he had sustained a long and
severe illness, arising from a derangement of the nervous
system, fof which many remedies wer^ applied without
success. He died at his house in Norton -street, Mary-
bone, March 8, 1796, in the sixty-ninth year of his age^
and Was' interred on the 18th, in Poets-corner, Westmin-
ster-abbey, He left a son and three daughters^ whd shared
his ample fortune, which he acquired with gredt hodourj
and enjoyed with hospitality bordering on niagTiificencei
His country retirement for some years had b^en at Whit-
ton-place, near Hounslow-heath ; in the improvement of
which delightful spot he appears to have studied the deco-
rations of an Italian villa. His character in private life
was very amiable,' and the courtesy and affability with
which he treated the workmen employed under him en-
deared him to them, and made it ^asV for him to collect a
numerous and able body of artificers wheii any of his works
requiVed extraordinary expedition. *
CHaMBRE (Fuancis Illharrart dela), an ingenidus
doctor of the Sorbonne, Was born Jan. 2y 1698, at Paris*
He lived a sedentary life> was appointed canon pf St. Be-
noit, and died of a malignant fever at Paris^ August 16^
) Qentlem^p's and European Magazines.
VoL.lJ^. H
9.8 C H A M B R E.
« —
17 $3, ^ged fifty^six. His genius was extremely accurate,
with great clearness and precision of ideas; bis temper
mild, easy, and sociable. The principal works of this
author which haye been printed are : a <* Treatise on the
Truth of Religion," 5 vols. i2mo i a " Treatise on the
Formulary/' 4 vols. 1 2mo ; another on the ^^ Bulls against
Baius/* 2 voU. 12mo ; another on the ^^ Constitution Uni^
genitus,'' 2 vols. l2mo; and a volume in 12mo entitled
** La Reality du Jansenisme.'* It appears from all these
treatises, that a good Thomist may accept the bulls against
Baius and Jansenius, and the Constitution Unigenitus.
The dogma is unfolded with much clearness and solidity ;
the theological opinions treated in a very methodical
manner, and with great precision. His other works are^
" Introduction a la Theologie," I vol. 1 2nM). " £xposi«
tion claire et precise des differens points de doctrine qui
ont raport aux matieres de religion/* Paris, 1745, 12mo«
This contains the substance of twenty-two theological trea-^
tises; « Tr. de PEglise," 6 vols, Ifmo ; « Tr. de la
Grace,'* 4 vols. i2mo ; ^^ La Logique, la Morale^ et la
Metaphysique," Paris, 1754, 2 vols. 12mo, &c.^
CHAMBRE (Marin Cureau de la), a native of Mans,
and king's physician in ordinary. He was received into
the French academy 1635, afterwards into that of sciences;
Chancellor Sequier and cardinal Richelieu gave him public
tesGmonies of their esteem ; and be acquired great repu*^
tation by his knowledge in physic, philosophy, and the
belles-lettres. He died November 29, 1669, at Parls^
aged seventy*five, and left many works, the pripcipal of
which are : ^^ Les Characteres des Passions," 4 vols. 4to ;
or Amsterdam, 1658, 5 vols. 12mo. ^^ L'Art de connoitre
les Hommes." " De la Connoissance des Bites." " Con-
jectures sur la Digestion," ** De I'lris." " De la Lu-
miere." " Le Systeme de I'Ame." ** Le Debordemeut
du Nil," each 1 vol. 4to. Peter de la Chambre, his se-
cond son, was curate of St. Bartholomew, and 4>ne of the
forty members of the French academy, and died 1693^.
leaving several panegyrics, printed separately in 4to.^
CHAMFORT (Sebastian Roche Nicolas), an inge- .
nious French writer, and one of the victims of the revolu-
tion, was born in 1741, in a bailiwick near Clermont, in/
t LMdvocat Diet Hist.
' IbiU.—'Moreri.— Eloges des Acadenuciens, yol. I. . .«
C H A M F O R T. 9*^
iuvergne. In supporting a revolution which levelled ail
family distinctions, be had no prejudices to ovek*come,
being the natural son of a man whom he never knew. Thid
circumstance^ however, ^nlid not diipinish his afFection tot
bis inotbdr, who Was a peasant girl, to supply whose wants
he often dehied hiddself the necessaries of life. He was
taken at a x^e^y ^afiy age into the college des Pra^sins at
Paris, as a bursar, or exhibitioner, and was there known
by his Christian name of Nicolas. During the first two
years he indicated no extraordinary talents, but in the
third, out of the five prizes which were distributed annu-
ally, he gained four, failing only in Latin verses. The
next year he gained the whole, and used to say^ ^^ I lost
the prize last year, because I imitated Virgil ; and this
year I obtained it, because I took Buchanan, Sarbievius^
and other moderns for my guides/' In Greek he made a
rapid progress, but his petulance and waggish tricks threw
the class into so much disordet*, that h^ was expelled, and
not bng after left the (;oUiege altogether. Tbrowii now on
the woi^d, without friends ot* mdney^ he became derk to
^procurat6r, and aftef wards was taken into the family of
a rich gentleman of Liege, as tutor. After this be wad
employed on the " Journal Encyclopedique,*' and having
published his Eloges on MoUere and La Fontaine, they
were so much adihired as to be honoured with the pHzes ^
of the French academy, and that of Marseilles. About
this time he had little other maintenance than what he de-
rived from the patronage of the duke de Choiseul and
madame Helvetius, and therefore was glad to take such
employment as the booksellers offered. For them he com-
piled a ** French Vocabulary," and a " Dictionary of th6
Theatres.^' While employed on this last, he fancied hiil
talents might succeed on the stage, and was not' disap-^
pointed. His tragedy of " Mustapha," acted in 1778,
was acknowledged to have great beauties ; and yoltaire,
Ivho witnessed the performance, said with an exclamation^
that he was reminded of Racine. This was followed by
two comedies, fugitive pieces of poetry, letters, epigrams,
ttanslations of the Anthology, and of Martial, all which
Contributed very considerably to his reputation. His
poetical ^^ Epistle from a father to a son, on the birth of a
grandson,^' gained him the prize of the French academy,
although it appears inferior to his '^ L' Homme de Lettres^
discours philosophique en vers.*^ At length be gained a
H 2
1*0 CHAM P 0 R T.
seat 10 tiie academy^, on the death of St Palaye, on tvhom
he wrote an elegant eloge. His tragedy of ^^ Mustapha^^
procared him the situation of principal secretary to the
primoe of Cond£, but his love of liberty and independence
prevented him from long discharging its duties. After re*
Agoing it, he devoted himself wholly to the pleasures of
society^ where he was considered as a most captivating
companioQ. He also held some considerable pensions^
whicby however, . he lost at the revolution.
When this great event took place, his intimacy with
Micabeau led him to join the revolutionists, and he assisted
Mirabeau in many of his works. He even obtained ad-
mission into the Jacobin-club, and in 1791 was appointed
secretary, but soon saw through their hypocrisy, detested
their sanguinary principles, and left them. After the 10th
of August, Roland procured him to be appointed national
librarian, in conjunction with Carra. He saw with horror
the excesses of all parties, and when the words *' Frater-
nity or Death" appeared on all the walls of Paris, he ex«
claimed << The fraternity of these fellows is that of Cain
and Abel.'* These^ and other sarcasms, made him ob*
noxious to Robespierre, and he was apprehended, and en-
deavoared to commit suicide. He only, however, mangled
himself shockingly on this occasion, and lived till April
1794. He was unquestionably a man of talents, but in
his political conduct inconsistent and frivolous, attaching
himself to no party^ yet maintaining the pernicious prin-
ciples from which each party had arisen. In 1795, his
friend Ginguen6 published his works in 4 vols. 8vo, with a
Life. They are entirely of the miscellaneous ^ind, and
the fourth volume consists of Maxims and Opinions, which
have ;Since been published separately under the title of
^^ Chamfortiana.'' Many of them are founded on an accu-
rate observation of human nature, and of the manners of
hi9 age and country. '
CHAMIER (Daniel), an eminent French protestant
divine, was born in Daupbiny, and was long minister at
Montelimart, in that province, from whence he remoii^ed
in 1€12 to Montapbon, to be professor of divinity; and
was killed at the siege of that place by a cannon ball in
1621. He was no less distinguished among his party as a
I Diet. Ht$t. — Blpg. Modenie.-:-Anecdotes of the Founders of the French
Repttbiic* - - - .
C H A M I E R. roi
statesman than as a divine. No man opposed the artifices
employed by the court to distress the protestants with
more steadiness and infle?s;bility. Varillas says it was be
who drew up the edict of Nantss. Though politics took Ujf
a great part of his time^ he acquired a large fund of ex*
tensive learning, as appears from his writings* His trea-
tise <^ De oecumenico pontifice/* and bis *^ Epistolie Je«
suitlcae/' are commended by Scaliger. His principal
work is his <^ Catholica Panstratia, or the Wars of the;
Lord/' in which the controversy between the protestants
and Roman catholics is learnedly handled. It was written
at the desire of the sypod of the reformed churches in
France, to confute Bellarmine. The synod of Privas, in
1612, ordered him 2000 livres to defray tlie charges of the
impression 9f the first three volumes. Though' this work
makes four large folio volumes^ it is not complete : for it
wants the controversy concerning the church, intended
for a fifth volume, which the author's death prevented
him from finishing. This body of controversy was printed
at Geneva in 1626, under the care ofTurretin, professor
of divinity. An abridgment of it was published in the
same city in 1643, in one vol. folio, by Frederick Spanheim^
the father. His *« Corpus Theologicum,*' and bis " Epis-
tolas Jesuiticse," were printed in a small folio volume^ 1693,
but there are 8vo editions of the latter, one Genev. 1599^
and the >^ Oe oecumenico pontificeV was also published in
Svo, Genev. 1601.*
CHAMILLARD (Stephen), a learned French antiquary,
was born at Bourges, in 1656. In 1673 he entered among
the Jesuits, and according to their custom, for some time
taught grammar and philosophy, and was a popular
preacher for about twenty years. He died at Parisj iu
1730. He was deeply versed in the knowledge of anti-
quity. He published: 1, A learned edition of " Pru-
deutius^' for the use of the Dauphin, with an interpreta-
tion and notes, Paris, 1687, 4to, in which he was much.
indebted to Heinsius. It is become scarce. 2. Disserta-
tions, in number eighteen, on several medals, gems, and
other monuments of antiquity, Paris, 1711, 4to. Smitten
with the desire of possessing something extraordinary, and
which was not to be found in the other cabinets of Europe^
h^ strangely imposed on hin^self in regard to. two medals
1 Qen, Diet,— Moreri.— Sftxil Onomuft,
108 . C H A M I L L A R D.
li^ich he imagined to be antiques. . The first ivas a Paca^*
tianuscof silrer, a medal unknown till his days, and which
is so stilly for that it was a perfect counterfeit has been
jgenerally acknowledged since the dfeath of its possessor.
*the other medaly on which he was the dupe of his own
fanpy, was an Annia Faustina, Greek, of the true bronze.
The princess there bore the name of Aurelia ; whence
&ther Chamillard concluded that she was descended from
f he family of the Antqnines. It had been struck, as he
pretended, in Syria, by order of a Quirinus or Cirinus,
descended, he asserted, from that Quirinus. who is -spoken
of by St. |!^uke. Chamillard dispjaj'ed his erudition on
the subject in a studied dissertatiW; but while he was
enjoying his triumph, a dealer in antiques at Rome de-
dared himself the father of Annia Faustina, at the same
time shewing others of the S9.me manufacture. ^
CHAMOUSSET (Charles Humreet Purron de), wag
born at Paris in 1717, and destined to supply his father's
place in the parliament of that city as a judge, as well as
that of his uncle in the same situation. He made choice
of the one of them that would give him the least trouble, apd
^ord him the most leisure for his benevolent projects.
Medicine was his favourite study. This he practised on
the poor only, with such an ardour and activity of mind»
that the hours which many persons give to sleep, he be-
stowed upon the assistan.ee of the sick. To make himself
more useful to them, he had learned to bleed, which ope-
ration he performed with all the dexterity of tlie most ex-
perienced surgeon. His disposition to do good appeared so
(early that when he was a boy, he used to give to the poor
the money which other boys spent in general in an idle and .
iiiiproii table manner. He was once very much in love with a
young lady of great beauty and accomplishment ; but;
Imagining that she would not make him a suitable assistant *
in .his attendance upon the poor, he gave over all thoughts
of marriage ; not veiy wisely, perhaps, sacrificing to the
extreme delicacy of one woman only his attachment ta.
that sex, in whose tenderness of disposition, and in whose
instinctive quickness of feeling, he would have foUnd that
reciprocation of bebevolence h^ was anxious tQ procure.-
He was so forcibly struck with the wretched situation of *
the great hospital of Paris (the Hotel Dieu, as it is called),
* Moteri,— Saxii Onomasticon.
<J H A M O U S 9 E T. lOJ
/
ifcere the dead, the dying, and the living, are very often
crowded together in the same bed (five persons at a iits^
occasionally occupying the same bed), that he wrote A
plan of reform for that hospital, which he shewed in ma-
nuscript to the famous John James Rousseau, requesting
hiffl to correct it for him. " What correction," replied
Rousseau, '^ can a work want, that one cannot read with-
out shuddering at the horrid pictures it represents ? What
is the end of writing if it be not to touch and interest the
passions ?" M. de Chamousset was occasionally the author
of many benevolent and useful schemes ; such as the esta-
blishment of the penny post at Paris ; the bringing good
water to that city ; a plan for a house of association, by
which any'man, for a amall sum of money deposited, may
be taken care of when he is sick ; and many others ; not
forgetting one for the abolition of begging, which is to
be found in ^^ Les vues d'un citoyen." M. de Chamousset
was now so well known as a man of active and useful bene-
volence, that M. de Choiseul (when he was in the war
department) made him, in 1761, intendant-geheral of the
military hospitals of France, the king, Louis XV. telling
him, ^' that he had never, since he came to the throne,
made out an appointment so agreeable to himself ;" and
added, ** I am sure I can never make any one that will be
of such service to my troops." The pains he took in this
employment were incredible. His attention to his situa-
tion was so great, and conducted with such good sense
and understanding, that the marshal de Soubise, on visiting
one of the great military hospitals at Dusseldorf, under
the care of M. de Chamousset, said, ** This is the first time
I have been so happy as to go round an hospital without
hearing any complaints." Another marshal' of France told
bis wife : ** Were I sick," said he, " I would be taken to
the hospital of which M. de Chamousset has the manage-
ment" M« de Chamousset was one day saying to die
minister, that he would bring into a court of justice the
peculation and rapine of a particular person. •* Gbd for-
bid you should !" answered the minister, " you run a risk
of not dying in your bed." " I had rather," replied he,
*^ die in any manner you please, than live to see my coun-
try devoured by scoundrels."
This good m^n died in 1773, at the age of 56 years
t>nly. He is supposed to have hastened his death by not
utking sufficient care of himself in bis illness^ saying
JO* C H A M O US S E T.
t|.Iways, wbfn pressed to do so, that he. bad not time 4o
^pare for it. He died as he lived, with the sentiments of
^ good Christian, and left a considerable sum of money in
charity ; not, however, without providing for his relations
?nd dependents, *
. CHAMPAGNE (Philip de), a celebrated painter, was
bori^ at Brussels in 1602. I}e discovered an inclination to
painting from his youth ;, and owed but little to masters for
the perfection be attained in it, excepting that he learned
landscape from Fouquiere. In all other branches of his art
nature was his master, and he is said to have followed. her
very faithfully. At nineteen years of age he set off foe
Italy, taking prance in his way.; bpt be pro9eede(j, a^ it
happened, no faii-ther ^han Paris, and Iqdged in, the college
of L?iop, \yhere foussin also dwejt; and these tvvo painter*
liecame very gpod friends. Du Chesne,- painter to queen
^lary of Medicis, was emplpyed about the paintings in the
palace of Luxembourg, and set Poussin and Champagne at
work under him. Poussin did a few. small pieqes in the
cieling, and Champagne drew some sipall pictures in the
flueen's apartment. Her majesty liked them so well, th^t
du Chesrie grew jealous of him ; upon- which Champagne,
|vho loved peace, returned to Brussels, with an intent tq
go through Germany into Italy. He was scarcely gat
there, when a letter came to him from the abbot of 8t.
Ambrose, who was surveyor of the buildings, to advertlW
Jiim of du Chesqe's death, and to invite him back to France.
He accordingly returned thither, and was presently made
director of fhe queen's paintings, vyho settled on him a
yearly pension of 12Q0 livres, and allowed him lodgings in
the palace of Luxembourg. Being a lover of his business^
he went through a great deal of it. There are a vast nuna-
ber of his pieces at Paris, and other parts of the. kingdoca i
and among other places, some of his pictures are to be
seen ip the chapter-house of Notre-dauie at Paris, and in
several churches in that city; without reckoning an in-»>
finity of portraits, which are noted for their likeness, 9,^
^ell as for being finished to a very high degree. The
queen also ordered him to paint the vault, of the Carmelites
church in the suburbs of St. James, where his crucitix is
much esteemed : but the best of his works is thousrht to be
his cieling in th<^ king's apartment at Vincennes, composed
pn the subject of the pes^ce in 1659. After this he yva,$
1 Last edition of this Dictionaryi-^Dict. ](iist. '
.CHAMPA G N E. lOS
made rector of tbe royal academy of painting, which office
he exercised many years.
He had been a long while famous in his profession, when
le Brun arrived at Paris from Italy ; and, thotigh le Brun
was soon at the head of the art, and made principal painter
to tbe king, he shewed no disgust at the preference that
was given to his detriment and loss. There is another in-
stance upon record of Champagne's goodness of disposition
and integrity. Cardinal Richelieu had offered to make his
fortune, if he would quit the queen-mother's service ; but
Champagne refused. The cardinal's chief valet-de-cham-
bre assured him farther, that whatever be would ask, bis
eminency would grant him : to which Champagne replied^
^' if the cardinal could make me a better painter^ the only
thing I am ambitious of, it would be something ; but since
that was impossible, the only honour be begged of his
eminency was the continuance of his good graces." It is
said, tbe cardinal was highly aflPected with the integrity of
the painter ; who, thougii he refused to enter into his ser-
vice, did not however refuse to work for him. Among
other things he drew his picture, and it is supposed to be
one of the best pieces he ever painted. Sir Robert Strange
had his portrait of Colbert, which he thought claimed a
rank with the finest of Vandyke's.
Champagne died in 1674, having been much beloved
by all that knew him, both as a good painter and a good
man. He liad a son and two daughters by bis wife, da
Chesne's daughter, whom he married after her father's
death : but two of these children dying before him, and the
third retiring to a nunnery (for she was a daughter), he left
)iis substance to John Baptiste de Champagne, his nephew.
John Baptiste was also born at Brussels, and bred up in
^be profession of painting under his uncle; whose mannelr
And gusto he always followed, though he spent fifteen
ffionths in Italy. He lived in the most friendly and: affec-
tionate manner with his uncle, and died professor. of the
ficademy of painting at Paris, in 1688, aged 42 years.*
CHAMPEAUX (William de), in Latin Campellensis,
^^ a native of the village of Cbampeaux near Melon, in
the province of Brie, and flourished in the eleventh and
twelftjj centuries. After studying law under Anselm, dean
of t)ie catl^edral church of Melun, he was ordained archr
* piJ Plles.-7Ar2ei^¥ille— Descainpf .r»l^ilKiB^<'n. — ^Strang^'^ Cati^ogue, p. 24,
106 CHAMPEAUX.
deacon of Paris, and appointed to read lectures on logic ih
the schools of that church. Some time after be retired
with some of his pupils to a monastery, in which was St.
Victor's chapel, near Paris, and there founded the abbey
of regular canons. He continued to teach in that convent,
and, as generally supposed, was the first public professor of
scholastic divinity. He was made bishop of Chalons in
1113, and died in Jan. 1121. None of his works are ex»
tant, for the *' Dialogue between a Christian and a Jew,**
printed under his name in the *^ Bibliotheca Patrum,**
belongs to Gilbert of Westminster. It is thought that be
wrote a book of sentences before Peter Lombard, of which
a MS copy was in the library of Notre^dame at Paris. He
maintained the doctrine of the Realists, who held that all
individual things partake of the one essence of their spe*
cies, and are only modified by accident. He had the ap-
pellation of the Venerable Doctor. Brucker has given a
long account of his disputes with Abelard, who was One of
his scholars, and who ventured to question the opinions of
his master, and leaving him, opened a school of his own at
Melun, where the splendour of his superior talents in dispu-
tation attracted general admiration,- and eclipsed the fame
of Cbampeaux. *
CHAMPIER (Benedict Curtius Symphorien), a most
voluminous medical and historical writer, was born in 1472>
After studying medicine he took his degree of doctor at
Pavia in 1515, and in 1520 was made consul at Lyons, an
honour which he again enjoyed in 1533, on returning
from Italy, whither he had accompanied Anthony duke of
Lorrain as bis army physician, and by whom he was
knighted for his bravery as well as skill. He died in 1 539
or 1540, after having founded the college of physicians at
Lyons. His works amount to twenty-four volumes, mostly
quarto, of which a list may be seen in our authorities, but
there is not one of them that can be noticed for excellence
fiither of niatter or style. Perhaps the' best of his histori-
cal compilations is, ** Les Grandes Chroniques des dues
de Savoie,v Paris, 1516, fol.'
CHAMPION (Anthony), a miscellaneous writer, was
the son of Peter Champion, a gentleman of an ancient and
respectal>le family, seated at St. Columb in Cornwall, who
acquired a considerable fortune as a merchant at Leghorn t
' DupiD.^Brucker. • Morcri.— Pict^ Hist.-. Saxli Oaomasticdii.
CHAMPION. lOT
he was bom February 5, 1724*5, at Groydon, m Surrey^
and received his first instruction in the Greek and Latin
languages at Cheam school in that couilty ; from whence^
in 1739, be was removed to Eton, and in Februfiry 1742,
became a member of the university of Oxford; having
been placed at St. Mary-hall, under the care of the rev*
Walter Harte, a celebrated tutor, who was selected at sc
later period by the earl of Chesterfield to finish his soii
Mr. Stanhope's education in classical literature. After
kaviog passed two years at Oxford, be was entered as a
student of law at the Middle^emple, where he continued
to reside to the day of his decease ; and was a bencher of
that society, to which he bequeathed one thousand pounds;
He served in two parliaments, having been elected in
1754 for the borough of St. Germain's, and in 1761 for
liskard in Cornwall ; but the same great modesty and re-
serve restrained him from displaying the powers of his very
discerning and enlightened mind in that illustrious assem*
Uy, which prevented him also from communicating to the
world his poetical effusions, a collection of which wai
published in an elegant volume in 1801, by William Henry
lord Lyttelton, who prefixed a biographical article, from
which the above account is taken. He died Feb. 22, 1801,
beloved and lamented, as his noble friend says, by all
who were acquainted with the* brightness of his genius, his
taste for the finer arts, his various and extensive learning,
and the still more valuable qualities of his warm and bene-
volent heart. From his *^ Miscellanies in prose and verse,j
English and Latin," it is discernible that he was a polite
acholar, and had many qualities of a poet, but not unmixed
with a love for those disgusting images in which Swift
delighted. *
CHAMPION (Joseph), a celebrated English penman,
was born at Chatham in 1709, and received his education
chiefly under Snell, who kept sir John Johnson's firee
writing-school in Foster-lane, Cheapside, and with whom
he served a regular clerkship; He kept a boaraing«-school
in St Paul's church-yard, and taught many of the nobility
and gentry privately. He was several years settled in the
New academy, in Bedford-street, where he had a good
number of scholars, whoca he instructed with great success;
iK^d he has x|ot hitherto been ejccelled in his art. Tha
108 CHAMPION.
year of his deftth we cannot preciaely ascertain. Hta firrt
performance appears to have been his ^^ Practical Arith-
metic/* 1733, 8vo; and in 1747 he publislied his <* Tutor's
assistant in teaching arithmetic/' in 40 plates, 4to. But
bis most elaborate and curious performance is bis ^^ Com*
parative Penmanship," 24 oblong folio plates, 1750. It is
engraved by Tborowgood, and is an honour to British pen*
manship in general. His '^ New and complete alphabets,'*
Mrjth the Hebrew, Greek, and German characters, in. 21
plates oblong folio, engraved by Bickham, . came out in
1754, and in 1758 he began to publish bis ^^ Living-^
hands," or several copy-books of the di^erent hands, in
common use, upwards of 40 plates, 4to. He contributed
47 folio pieces for Bickham's ^< Universal Penman," in
which he displays a beautiful variety, of writing, both for
use and, ornament. His principal pieces besides are ^' En*
grossing bands for young clerks," 1757. *^ The young
Penman's practice," . 1 760. " The Penman's employment,"
folio, 1759 — 1762. In 1754 he addressed and presented
to the Royal Society a large body of penmanship, in 20
leaves, folio, which remains in MS. ^
CHAMPLAIN (Samu£L de), born in Saintopge, waa
jient by Henry IV. on a voyage to the newly-discovered
continent of America, in quality of captain of a man of
war. In this expedition he signalized himself not less by
his courage than his prudence, and may be considered as
the founder of New France. It was he who caused the
town of Quebec to be built ; he was the first governor of
that colony, and greatly exerted himself in the settling of
a new commercial company at Canada. This company,
established in 1628, was called the company pf associates,
and the cardinal de Richelieu put himself at their head.
He published: "Voyages de la Nouyelle France, dite
Canada," 1632, 4to. He goes back to the first discoveries
^ade by Verazaiii, coming down to the year 1631. This
work is excellent in regard to ma.terial points, and the
simple and natural manner in which they are exhibited. If
he is censurable for any thing, it is for rather too much,
credulity. The author seems to be a person of sound,
judgment and strong resolution ; disinterested, and zealous
for the religion and interests of bis country. He was ex->
polled, with the French, from the colony in 1631^ huX
} Maisey't Qufum and Pfogreisof Lcttem
<<*
C H A M P L A I N. 109
when restored at the peace, be returned again in 1634,
afid was appointed governor-generaL He died about 1635.
Lake Champlain in North America bad its name from him.
He di>icovered it in 1608, and before his time it was called
CorIaer*s lake. ^
CHANDLER (Edward), a learned English prelate, was
the son of Samuel Chandler, esq, of the city of Dublin,
by bis wife Elizabeth, whose maiden name was Calvert.
Our prelate was probably born in that city, but received
bis academical education at Emanuel college, Cambridge,
where at the age of twenty-^five^ he commenced M. A. was.
ordained priest, and made chaplain to Lloyd, bishop of
Winchester, in 1693. He was prebendary of Pipa Minor,
April 27, 1697, and afterwards canon of Lichfield and
Worcester, He was nominated to the bishopric of Lich«
field, Sept 5, 1717, and consecrated at Lambeth, Nov. 17.
From that see he was translated to Durham^ Nov«.5, 1730 ;
and it was then publicly said that he gave 9000^. for that
opulent see, which is scarcely credible. He was, it is uni-
versally acknowledged, a prelate of great erudition, 'having
rendered himself justly valued and esteemed as a worthy
father of the church of England, and patron of the truth,
by his learning and convincing writings^ particularly *^ A
Defence of Christianity from the prophecies of the Old
Testament, wherein are considered all the objections
against this kind of proof advanced in a late Discourse on
the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion," Lon-
don, 1725, 8vo. This was reckoned a very learned and
daborate work, and compelled Collins to produce in 1 727
a second book, particularly in answer to the bishop of
Lichfield, which rank our author then held : this was en-
titled " The Scheme of Literal Prophecy considered," and
this occasioned a second antswer from the learned bishop,
entitled " A Vindication of the Defence of Christianity,:
from the prophecies of the Old Testament," published ii^
1728 : in this he largely and very solidly vindicates the
antkjuity and authority of the book of Daniel, and. the ap- .
plication of the prophecies there contained to the Messiah^ :
against Collins's objections; and also fully obviates v what i
he had farther advanced against the antiquity and univer-
sality of the tradition and expectation among the Jews .
ci*^cerning the Messiah. His other -publications were
•
* Moreri.— Diet. Hist.
no CHANDLER.
eight occasional Sermons, the *' Chronological Disserta*
tion^' prefixed to Aroald^s Ecclesiasticns, and a preface to a
posthumous work of Dr. Ralph Cadwortli% entitled ** A
Treatise concerning eternal and immutable Morality.^' He
died at his house in Grosvenor-square July 20, 1750, of
the stone, several large ones being found in his body,
when opened, and was buried .dt Farnham Royal^ in the
county of Bucks. Whilst he was bishop of Durham, he
gave 50L towards augmenting Monkwearmouth living, also
200/. to purchase a house for the minister of Stockton, and
2000/. to be laid out in a purchase for the benefit of cler-
gymen's widows in the diocese of Durham ; and it is re-
corded, much to his honour, tbat he nevex sold any of his
patent offices. ^
CHANDLER (Mary), an ingenious English lady^ sister
to the subject of the following article, was borii at Malms^
bury, in.Wiltshi/e, in 1687, and was carefully trained up
in the principles, of religion and virtue. As her father's
circumstances rendered it necessary tbat she should apply
herself to some business, she was brought up to that of a
milliner. But, as she had a propensity to literature, she
employed her leisure hours in perusitig the best modern
writers, and as many as she could of the antient ones,
especially the poets, as far as the best translations could
assist her. Amongst these, Horace was her particul:^ fa-
vourite, and she greatly regretted that she could not read
him in the original. She was somewhat deformed in her
person, in consequence of an accident in her childhood.
This unfavourable circumstance she occasionally made a
subject of her own pleasantry, and used to s&y, *^ That as
her person would not recommend her, she ttiust endeavour
to cultivate her mind, to make herself agreeable." This
she did with the greatest care, being an admirable oecono-
mist of her time ; and it is said, that she had so tnany ex-
cellent qualities in her, that though her first appearance
could create no prejudice in her favour, yet it was iitipos-t
sible to know her without valuing and esteeming her. ' She
thought the disadvantages of her shape were such, as gave
ber no reasonable prospect of being happy in the married
state, and therefore chose to remain single. She had,
however, an honourable offer from a worthy country gen-
1 Shaw's Hist, of Staffordshire. — Hutchinscn^s Durham. — Leland's View of
Dteisttcal Writers. — Gent Mag* vol. LXIII. in which there is an account of bis
family and descendants,— -Whiston's Life.— Nichols's Bowyer.
CHANDLER. lU
tleman, of considerable fortune, who, attracted merely bj
the goodness of her character, took a journey of an bun^-
dred miles to visit her at Bath, where she kept a milliner^9
shop, and where he paid her his acldresses. But she de*
dined his offers, and is said to have convinced him that
such a match could neither be for his happiness, nor her
own. She pi^blished several poems in an 8vo volume,
but that which she wrote upon '^ Bath'* was the best re-
ceived. It passed through several editions. She intended
to have written a large poeoi upon the being and attributes
of God, and did execute some parts of it, but did not live
to finish it. It was irksome to her to be so much confined
to her business, and the bustle of Bath was sometimes dis«
agreeable to her. She often languished for more leisure
and solitude : but the dictates of prudence, and a desire
to be useful to her relations, whom she regarded with the
warmest affection, brought her to submit to the fatigues
of ber business for thirty-five years. She did, however,
sometimes enjoy occasional retirements to the country
seats of some of her acquaintance; and was then extremely
delighted with the pleasures of solitude, on which she
wrote some beautiful, verses, and the contemplation of
the works of nature. She was honoured with the esteem
and regard of the countess of Hertford, afterwards
duchess of Somerset, who several times visited her._ Mr*
Pope also visited her at Bath, and complimented ber
for her poem on that place, and the celebrated Mrs. Rowe
was one of her particular friends. She bad the misfortune
of a very valetudinary constitution, which was supposed
to be, in some, measu/e, owing to the irregularity of her
form. By the advice of- Dr. Cheyne, she entered on a
vegetable diet, and adhered to it even to an extreme. She
died on the litb of September, 1745, in the fifty -eighth
year of her age, after about two days illness. *
CHANDLER (SaMU£L), an eminent dissenting minister,
was born at Hungerford, in Berkshire, in 1693, where bis
father was then pastor of a congregation of protestant dis-
senters. He early discovered a genius for literature, which
was carefuily cultivated ; and being placed under proper
masters, he^ made a very uncommon progress in clafisicel
learning, and especially in the Greek tongue. As it was
intended by his friends to bring him up for the ministry,
*' Cibber'B Lives* written by her brother.-^o|;. Brit
112 C H A N C L i: IL
he was sent to an academy at firidgewater ; l>ut was soon
removed to Gloucester, that he might becoihe a pupil to
Mr. Samuel Jones, a dissenting minister of great eriiditioii
and abilities, who had opened an academy in that city,!
afterwards transferred to Tewkesbury. Such was the at-
tenttonof that gentleman to the morals of bis pupils, and
to their progress in literature, and such the skill and dis-
cernment with which be directed their studies, that it was
a singular advantage to be placed under so able and ac-
complished a tutor. ' Chandler 'made the proper use of so
happy a situation, applying himself to his studies with
great assiduity, and particularly to critical, biblical, and
oriental learning. Among the pupils of Mr. Jones, were
Mr. Joseph Butler, afterwards bishop of Durham, and Mr.
Thomas Seeker, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury,
with whom he contracted a friendship that continued to the
end of their lives, notwithstanding the different views by
which their conduct was afterwards directed, and the dif-
ferent situations in which they were placed.
On leaving the academy, he continued bis studies at
Leyden, and these being finished, he began to preach
about July 1714; and being soon distinguished by his ta-
lents in the pulpit, he was chosen, in 1716, minister of
the presbyterian congregation at Peckham, near London,
in which station he continued some years. Here he en«
tered into the matrimonial state, and began to have an in-
creasing family, when, by the fatal South-sea scheme of
1720, be unfortunately lost the whole fortune which he
had received with bis wife. His circumstances being
thereby embarrassed, and his income as a ministef being^
inadequate to bis expences, he engaged in the trade of a
bookseller, and kept a shop in the Poultry, London, in
partnership with John Gray, who afterwards became a dis-
senting minister, but conformed, and had a living in York-
shire. Mr. Chandler continued this trade for about two
or three years, still continuing to discharge the duties of
tlie pastoral office. It may not be improper to observe,
that in the earlier part of his life Mr. Chandler was subject
to frequent and dangerous fevers; one of which confined
him more than three months, and threatened by its effects
to disable him for public service. He was, therefore, ad-
vised to confine himself to a vegetable diet, which he ac^
cordingly did, ai\d adhered to it for twelve years. Thia
produced so happy an alteration in his constitatioh; tha^
CHANDLER. 113
tbougli he tdPterwards returned t6 Ae usual way of living,
he enjoyed art uncommon share of^ spirits and vigour till
seventy; •
While Mr. Chandler was minister of the congregation at
Peckham, some gentlemen of the several denominations
of dissenters in the city, came to a resolution to set up and
support a weekly evening lectiite at the Old Jewry, for the
winter half year. The subjects to be treated in this lec-
ture were the evidences of natural and revealed religion,
and answers to the principal objections against them. Two
of the most eminent yoiuig ministers among the dissenters
were appointed for the execution of this design, of which
Mr. Chandler was One, and Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Lardner,
who is so justly celebrated for his learned writings, was
Another. But after some time this lecture was dropped,
and another of the same kind set up, to be preached by
eoe person only, it being judged that ip might then be
conducted with m6re consistency of reason and uniformity
of design; and Mr. Chandler was appointed for this ser-
vice. In the course of this lecture he preached some
sermons on the confirtnation which miracles gave to the
divhie mission of Christ, and the truth of his religion; and
vindicated the argument against th6 objections of Collins,
ill his ** Discourse of the grounds and reasons' of the
Christian religion;" These sermons, by the advice of a
friend, he enlarged, and threw into the forhi of a con-
tinued treatise, Tuid published in 17;25, 8vo, under the
following title: " A Vindication of the Christian Religion,
in two parts, I. A discburse on the nature and use of Mi-
racles ;* II. An answer to a late book, entitled a Discourse
on the grounds and reasons, of the Christian religion."
Having presented A copy of this book to archbishop Wake,
his grace expressed his sense of the value of the favour,
in a letter, which is sLn honourable testimony to Mr.
Chandler's merit. * It appears from the lietter, that the
archbishop did not then know that the author was any other
than a bookseller ; for he says r " I cannot but own myself
to be surprised to see so much good learning and just rea-
soning in a person of your profession ; and do thmk it a
pity you should not rather spend your time in writing books
than in selling them. But I am glad, since your circum-
stances oblige you to the latter, that you do not wholly
omit the former." Besides gaining the archbishop's ap-
. VpL. Dj;, . : I
I
114 C H A N D L E It
probation, Mr. Chandler^s performance considerably a^-^
vanced his reputation in general, and contributed to Iiis
receiving an invitation, about 1726, to settle as a minister
with the congregation in the Old Jewry, which was one of
the most respectable in London. 'Here he continued, first
as assistant, and afterwards as pastor, for the space of forty
years, and discharged the duties of the ministerial office
with great assiduity and ability, being much estecQied and
regarded by his own congregation, and acquiring a dis-
tinguished reputation, both as a preacher and a. writer*
His writings having procured him a high reputation for
learning and abilities, he might easily have obtained the
degree of D. D. and offers of that kind were made him ;
but for some time he declined the acceptance of a diploma,
and, as he once said in the pleasantness of conversation, " be-
cause so many blockheads had been made doctors.'' How-
ever, upon making a visit to Scotland, in company with his
friend the earl of Finlater and Seafield, he with great pro-
priety accepted of this honour, which was conferred upoa
him without solicitation, and with every mark of respect, by
the two universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. He had
likewise the honour of being afterwards elected F. R. and
A. SS. the former in 1754. On the death of George II.
in 1760, Dr. Chandler published a sermon on that event,
in which he compared that prince to king David. This
gave rise to a pamphlet, which was printed in 1761, en-
titled " The History of the Man after God's own Heart ;'*
in which the author ventured to exhibit king David as an
example of perfidy, lust, and cruelty, fit only to be
ranked with a Nero or a Caligula; and complained. of the
insult that had been offered to the memory of the late
British monarch, by Dr. Chandler^s parallel between him
and the king of Israel. This attack occasioned Dr.
Chandler to publish, in the following year, " A Review of
the History of the Man after God's own Heart ;" in whiclji
the falsehoods and misrepresentations of the historian are
exposed and corrected. He also prepared for th^ press a.
more elaborate work, which was afterwards published in
2 vols. 8vo, under the following title : ". A Critical His-
tory of the Life of David ; in which the principal events
are ranged in order of time ; the chief objections of Mr.
£ayle, and others, against the character of t|iis prince^
a^d the scripture account of him, and the occurrences of
G H AN D L E R. US
biis reign^ af e examined and refuted ; and the psalms which
refer to him explained.^^ As this was the last, it was^
IScewise, one of the best of Dr. Chandler's productions.
The greatest part of this work was printed off at the time
of our author's death, which happened May 8, it 66, aged
seventy-three. During the last year of his life, he was
visited with frequent returns of a very painful disorder,
which he endured with great resignation and Christian for->
titude. He was interred in the burying-ground at Bun-
bill-fields, on the 16th of the month; and his funeral was
very honourably attended by ministers and other gentle-
men. He expressly desired, by his last will, that no de-
lineation of his character might be given in his funeral
sermon, which was preached by Dr. Amory. He had
several children ; two sons and a daughter who 'died before
him, and three daughters who survived him. His library
was sold the same year. ' «
Dr. Chandler was a man of very extensive learning and
eminent abilities; his apprehension was quick and his
jadgment penetrating ; he had a warm and vigorous ima-
gination ; he was a very instructive and animated preacher;
and his talents in the pulpit, and as a writer, procured him
very great and general esteem, not only among the dis-
senters, but among large numbers of the established
church. He was well known and much respected by many
persons of the highest rank, and was offered considerable
preferment in the church; but he steadily rejected every
proposition of that kind. He was principally instrumental
in the establishment of the fund for relieving the widows
aod orphans of poor protestant dissenting ministers : the
plan of it was first formed by him ; and it was by his in-
terest and application to his friends that many of the sub-
scriptions for its support were procured.
Dr. Chandler's other works were: 1. " Reflections on
the Conduct of the Modern Deists, in their late writings
against Christianity,*' 1727. 2. " A^ Vindication of the
Antiquity and Authority of Daniel's Prophecies," 1723.
3^ A translation of Limborch's " History of the Inquisi-
tion,'* 173!, 2^vols. 4to. To this he prefixed ** A lisirge
iisiiroductioti, concerning the rise and progress of perse-
cution, and the real and pretended causes of it." This
W4tt^ attacked by Dr. Berriman, in a pamphlet entitled
^' Brief Remarks on Mr. Chandler's Introduction to t!^^
Ilistory of the Inquisition." Our author published, in the
I 2
Hi C H A.N D L E R.
form of a letter, an answer to these ^^ Remarks/- which
engaged Dr. Berriman to write " A Review of hb Re-
marks,'* to which Mr. Chandler replied in " A second
Letter to William Berriman, D. D. &c. in which his Re-
view of his Remarks on the Introduction to the History of
the Inquisition is considered, and the Characters of St.
Athanasiusy and Martyr Laud, are farther stated^nd sup-
ported." This publication was soon followed by another,
entitled ** A Vindication of a passage of the Right Reve-
rend the Lord Bishop of London, in his second Pastoral
Letter, against the misrepresentations of William Berri-
man, D. D. in a Letter to his Lordship ;" and here the
controversy ended. 4. " The Dispute better adjusted
about the proper time of applying for a repeal of the Cor-
poration and Test Acts," &c." 1732, 8vo. 5» " A Para-
phrase and critical Commentary on the prophecy of Joel,"
1735, 4to. This was. part of a commentary on the whole
of the prophets, which he did' not live to finish. 6. " The
History of Persecution," 1736, 8vo. 7. " A Vindication
of the History of the Old Testament," in answer to Mor-
gan's " Moral Philosopher," 1741, 8vo. 8. " A Defence
of the Prime Ministry and Character of Joseph," 1742, 8vo.
9. " The Witjiesses of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
re-examined, and their Testimony proved consistent,"
1744, 8vo. 10. " The Case of Subscription to explana-
tory articles of faith, &c. calmly considered," 1745, 8vo.
11. "A Letter to the rev. Mr. John Guyse, occasioned by
his two sermons on Acts ix. 20. in which the scripture no-
tion of pleaching Christ is stated and defended, and Mr.
Guyse's charges against his brethren ar<e considered and
proved groundless," 1729, 8vo. 12. " A second Letter
to the rev. Mr. John Guyse, in which Mr. Guys^'s latitude
and restrictive ways of preaching Christ are proved to be
entirely the same; the notion of preaching Christ is far-
ther cleared and defended ; the charge alledged against
him of defaming his brethren is maintained and supported ;
and his solemn arts in controversy are considered and ex-
posed," 1730, 8vo. 13. ^'A Letter to the right hon. the
Lord Mayor ; occasioned oy his lordship's noQiination of
five persons, disqualified by act of parliament, as fit and
proper persons to serve the office of Sheriffs, in which the
nature and design of the corporation act is impartially con-
sidered and stated," 1738, Svo. 14. "An Account of
the Conferences held in Nicholas-lane, Feb, JS, 17.34, be-
C H A N D L E ft. 117
tween two Romish priests and some protestant divines ;
with some remarks on a pamphlet entitled The Confer-
ences, &c. truly stated," 173r», 8vo. 15. " Cassiodori
Senatoris Complexiones in Epistolas, Acta Apostolorum,
& Apocalypsin, e vetustissimis Canonicoriim Veronensium
membranis nnper enitaj. Editio altera ad Florentinam
fideliter expressa, opera & cura Samuelis Chandleri,"
1722, 12mo. 16. "A short and plain Catechism, being,
an explanation of the Creed, Ten Commandments, and
the Lord's Prayer, by way of question and answer," 1742,
12mo. 17. ** Great Britain's Memorial against the Pre-
tender and Popery ; to which is annexed, the method of
dragooning the French protestants after the revocation of
the edict of Nantes," 1745, li2mo. This piece was thought
so seasonable at the time of the rebellion, that it passed
through ten editions. 18. "Many occasional sermons."
Dr. Chandler also wrote about fifty papers in the weekly
publication called " The Old Whig, or Consistent Pro-
testant." In 1768, 4 vols, of his sermons were published
by Dr. Amory, according to his own directions in his last
will ; to which was prefixed a neat engraving of him, from
an excellent portrait by Mr. Cbamberlin. He also ex-
pressed a desire to have some of his principal pieces re-
printed in 4 vols. 8vo ; proposals were accordingly pub-
lished for that purpose, but did not meet with sufficient
encouragement. But in 1777, another work of our author
was published, in 1 vol. 4to, " A Paraphrase and Notes
on the Epistles of St. Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians,
with doctrinal and practical Observations ; together with
a critical and practical Commentary on the two Epistles of
St. Paul to the Thessalonians." In this there are some
valuable criticisms, but all are not entitled to that praise.
Dr. Chandler also left in his interleaved Bible, a large
number of critical notes, chiefly in Latin, and which were
intended to be published ; but the design has not yet been
executed, and the four gentlemen to whom they were in-
trusted, Dr, Kippis, Mr. Fanfeer, Dr. Price, and Dr. Sa-
vage, are all dead, nor have we heard in what manner they
disposed of the copy. '
CHANDLER (Richard), D.D. an eminent scholar and
antiquary, was born in 1738, and educated at Magdalen-
college, Oxford, of which he was some time fellow. He
1 Biog. Brit— Nichols's Bowyar. — ^Lelaad'fl Deistical Writers.
1
118 CHANDLER.
took his degree of M. A. Oct 15, 1761, that of B. D. April
23, 1773, and in December of the same year that of D,D.
Having entered into holy orders, he had the college living
of Worldlyham, in Hampshire, and was afterwards rector
of Tilehurst, in Berkshire. His first appearance in the
republic of letters was as editor of the " Oxford Marbles,'*
in which capacity he was employed by the university. The
** Marmora Oxoniensia" were accordingly printed at the
Clarendon press, in a magnificent folio,, in 1763, with an
elegant Latin preface by the editor, and a very copious
index by his friend Mr. Loveday. Mr. Chandler also cof-
r^cted the mistakes of the former editors, and in some of
the inscriptions, particularly that of the Parian Chronicle,
supplied the lacuna by many ingenious conjectures.
His next publication arose from his connection with the
Dilletanti, a society so called, composed originally (in
1734) of some gentlemen who had travelled in Italy, and
were desirous of encouraging at home a taste for those ob-^
jects which had contributed so much to their entertainment
abroad. On a report of the state of this society's finances
in 1764, it appeared that they were in possession of a con-
siderable sum above what their current services required.
Various schemes were proposed for applying part of this
money to some purpose which might promote taste, and
do honour to the society ; ^.nd after some consideration it
was resolved, that persons properly qualified should be
$ent, with sufficient appointments, to certain parts of the
eas^, to collect information relative to the former state of
those countries^ and particularly to procure exact descrip-
tions of the ruins of such monuments of antiquity as are
yet to be seen in those parts. Three persons were accor-
dingly selected for this undertaking ; Mr. Chandler was
appointed to execute the classical part of the plan; the
province of architecture was assigned to Mr. Revett ; and
the choice of a proper person for taking views and copying
bas-reliefs, fell upon Mr. Pars, a young painter of pro-
mising talents.
These gentlemen embarked June 9, 1764, on board a ship
bound for Constantinople ; and were landed ^at the Darda-
nelles on the 25th of August. Having visited the Sigean
promontory, the ruins qf Troas, with the islands of Tenedos
and Scio, they arrived at* Smyrna on the 1 1th of September,
and from that city, as their head-quarters, they made seve-
ral excursions. In August 1765, they arrive^ at Athens;
CHANDLER. 119
vhere they sUid till June 1766"; visiting Marathon, Eleasis,
Salamisi Megara, and other places in the neighbourhood.
Leaving Athens, they proceeded by the little island of
Catauria, to Trsezene, Epidaurus, Argos, and Corinth.
Thence they visited Delphi, Patrae, Elis, and Zante ; and
OQ the 31st of August they set sail for Bristol, and arrived
in England November 2, following. The result of this
tour was published in 1769, under the title of " Ionian
Antiquities, published with permission of the society of
Dilletanti. By R. Chandler, M. A. F. S. A. N. Revett,
arcliitect, and W. Pars, painter.'* Imp. fol. a volume which
while ic did honour to the society, amply justified the ex-
pectations formed of the talents employed.
In 1774, Mr. (now Dr.) Chandler, published what maybe
considered as a valuable supplement to the collections of
ancient inscriptions by Oruter, Muratori, &c. under the
title of ^^ Inscriptiones antiquse, plerasc^ue nondum edita;,
in Asia Minore et Graecia, fMrgesertim Athenis collectae,"
fol. Clarendon press. The year following he g'*?»tified a
much larger proportion of the public by his " Travels in
Asia Minor 5 or an Account of a Tour made at the expence
of the Society of Dilletanti," 4to, a work of considerable
learning, and replete with curious information. This was
immediately followed by his "Travels in Greece," 1776,
4to : the principal part of this volume consists of a descrip-
tion of Attica and its celebrated capital Athens, which is
highly interesting, although, both in this and the preceding
volume of travels, there are marks of carelessness ^nd haste
which frequently obscure the author's meaning.
Id 1802, he published " The History of Ilium or Troy:
including the adjacent Country^ and the opposite Coast of
the Chersonesus of Thrace.''
After his return from his travels, Dr^ Chandler, if we are
not mistaken, resided chiefly on his living at Tileburst, where
he undertook, at the instance of the late Mr. Loveday of Ca-
versham, to collect materials for a life of William Waynflete,
founder of Magdalen college. These he had put together in
a state fit for the press as early as 1791, but why he did not
then publish them does not appear. Before his death he
gave the MS. to the late Charles Lambert, esq. F. S. A. of
the Inner Temple, with a request that he would arrange
the notes and prepare the whole for publication in the best
and speediest manner possible. The notes, however, ivere
found in a very confused state, and we suspect that, if th^
learned author had himself revised the work; he would
120 C H A N'D L E R.
have discovered other imperfections. It itas, hOwevei*^
published in an elegant volunae in 1811, 8vo, and jnay be,
considered as a very valuable addition to collegiate history.
Dr. Chandler died at Tilehurst-house, Feb. 9, 1810, leav-
ing by h^s wife Miss Dorrien, whom he piarried in 1785, a
son and daughtfer..*
CHANTEREAU-LE-FEBURE, or LE FEVRE(Loui$),
a learned French antiquary, was born at Paris, Sept. 12,
1588, and became highly distinguished for general erudi-
tion, and especially for his knowledge of civil and canon
law, history, politics, and the belles lettres. Nor was he
less admired for the excellence of his private character.
Louis XIII. made him intendant of the fortifications of the
gabelles, or excise on salt, &c. in the principality of Sedan,
and lastly intendant of the finances of the duchies of Bar-
and Lorrain. He compiled, from original records, " His-
torical Memoirs of the Houses of Lorrain and Bar f ^ the
first part of which only was published at Paris,. 1642, folio.
He also published other works on detached parts of French,
history ; and after his death, his son published his " Trea-
tise on Fiefs,'' 1662, folio, in which he m^ntains an opi-
nion, which has been thought to be erroneous, viz. that
hereditary fiefs commenced only after the time of Hugh
Capet. He died at Paris in 1^358.*
CHANTREAU (Peter Nicholas), an ingenious French
writer, the son of an advocate, was born at Paris in 1741,
and became teacher of the French language- in a military
school in Spain, where he published a French grammar,
entitled "Arte de Hablar bien Frances," Madrid, 4to,
which went through six editions. On his return, to France
he was appointed pfolessor of history in the central school
of Gers, and afterwards in the imperial school at Fountain-
bleau. He died at Auch, Oct. 15, 1808. His works were,
1. ** Dictionnaire des mots et usages introduits par la revo-
lution,*' 8vo, a curious medley of cant phrases, which he
published under the name of M. L'Epithete of Politicopolis.
2. "Voyage dans les troisrOyaumesd'Angleterre, d'Ecosse,
et d'Irlande:" this journey he took in 1788 and 1789, and
the work appeared in 1792, 3 vols. 8vo. 3. " Lettres
ecrites de Barcelonne a un zelateur de la libert6 qui voyage
en Allemande," 1792, 8vo. 4. "Voyage philosophique,
politique, et litteraire, fait en Russie pendant les ann^es
» Gfnt. Mag. 1810 Month. Rev. vols. XUI. LIT. LIV. and LV.— Nichols's
lowyer. * Morcri. — Diet. Hl«t.
C H A N T ,R E A U. 121
1788 and 1789, &c.'' 2 vOi)s. SrOj replete with curious and
original informaiioTi. 5. >' Essai didactique sur la forme
que doivent avoir les livres eiementaires 'faits pour lea
ecotes nationaies/' 1795, 8vo. 6. " Tables chronolo-
giqaes,*' a translation of Blair's Chronology, 1797, 4to.
7. The Index to Beaumarchais's edition of Voltaire's works^
which forms the 71st and 72d voluTne of that edition. S«
'' Rudimens de Thistoire," a work of very considerable
merit 9. " La Science de Thistoire,*' 1803, et seqq. 4 vols.
4to. This work is peculiarly happy in the plan, and judi-
citus and accurate in its execation. 10. ^^ Histoire de
France abreg^e et chronologique depuis les Gaulois et les
Francs jusqu'en 1808," 2 vols. 8vo. *
CHAPELAIN (John), a celebrated French poet, was*
born at Paris Dec. 4, 1595, and having been educated
under Frederic Morel, Nicholas Bonrbon, and other emi-
nent masters, became tutor to the children of the marquis
delaTronsse, grand marshal of France, and afterwards-
steward to this nobleman. Puring an abode of seventeen
years in this family, be translated " Guzman d'Alfarache,"
from the Spanish, and directed his particular attention to
poetiy. He wrote odes, sonnets, the last words of cardinal
Richelieu, and other pieces of poetry ; and at length dis*
tioguished himself by bis heroic poem called ^' La Pucelle,''
Or " France delivr6e." Chapelain was thought to have
succeeded to the reputation of Malherbe, and after his'
death was reckoned the prince of the French poets. Gras-'
sendi, who was his frielid, has considered him in this light;
and says, that ^Hhe French muses have found some com-
fort and reparation for the loss they have sustained by the
death of Malherbe, in the person of Chagelain, who has
now taken the place of the defunct, and is become the
arbiter of the French language and poetry.^' Sorbiete has
tiot scrupled to say, that Chapelain '^ reached ^ven Virgil
himself in heroic poetry ;'' and adds, that *^ he was a man of'
great erudition as well as modesty." He possessed this
glorious reputation for thirty years ; and, perhaps, might
have possessed it now, if he had suppressed the " Pucelle,:'*
but the publication of this poem id 1656, ruined his
poetical character, in spite of all attempts of his friends to
support it. He had employed a great many years about it;
die expectation of the public, was raised to the utmost;
and, as is usual in such cases, disappointed* The conse*
1 Diet. Hist.
JS5J e H A P E L A I N.
quence of this was, that he was afterwards set as mach too
low in his poetical capacity as perhaps before be was too
high.
Cbapelain died at Paris, Feb. 22, 1674, aged seventy^
i>ine. He was of the king's counsellors ; very ricb, and
had some amiable qualities, but was covetous. '^ Pelisson
and I,^' says Menage, ^^ had been at variance a long time
with Chapelain ; but, in a fit of humility, he called upon
me and insisted that we should go and offer a reconciliation
to him, for that it was his intention, *^ as much as possible^
to live in peace with all men." We went, and I protest I
saw the very same billets of wood in the chimney which I
had observed there twelve years before. He < had 50,000
crowns in ready cash by him ; and bis supreme delight was
to have his strong box opened and the bags taken out^
that he might contemplate his treasure. In this manner
were his bags about him when he died ; which gave occa-
sion to a certain academician to say, " there is our friend
Chapelain just dead, like a miller among his bags." He
had no occasion therefore to accept of cardinal Richelieu's
offer. Being at the height of his reputation, Richelieu,
who was fond of being thought a wit lis well as a statesman,
and was going to publish something which he would have-
pass for an excellent performance, could not devise a bet*
ter expedient than prefixing Chapelain's name to it.
" Chapelain," says he, " lend me your name on this oc-
casion,^ and I will lend you my purse on any other." The
learned Huet endeavoured to vindicate bis great poem,
bi^t could not succeed against the repeated attacks of
Boileau, Racine, and Fontaine. Chapelain, however, was
a man of learning, and a good critic, and he has found an
able defender in the abb^ d' Olivet, in his History of the
French Academy. It was at the desire of Malberbe and
Vaugelas that Chapelain wrote the famous preface to the
'^ Adone" of Marino; audit was he who corrected the
very first poetical composition of Racine, his *^ Ode to the
Queen," who introduced Racine to Colbert, and procured
him a pension, for which Racine repaid him by joining
the wits in decrying his poem.^
CHAPELLE (Armand de la), minister of the Walloon
church at the Hague, died in that city in 1746. He was
reputed a man of great piety and learning, and deserves.
1 Moreri. — Diet Hist — Biographic Gallica.
G H A P E L L 5- 128
jftotice here as the editor of the " Bibliothcqnc Anglaise,''
a species of Review, which he carried on from 1716 to
1727, making 15 vols. 12mo, and of the ** Bihliotheque
raisonn^ des Ouvrages des Savans/' from July 1728 to
June 1735, 14 vols. In these he bad the occasional as-
sistance of other literary men, and they contain many va-»
luable pieces of criticism. He also translated Ditton on
the " Resurrection," and a treatise on the ** Necessity of
public Worship," the latter in favour of the protestants of
Langaedoc. *
CHAPELLE (Claude Emanuel Lullier), a celebrated
French poet, called Chapelle from the place of his nativity,
a village between Paris and St. Denys, was born in 1621.
He was the natural son of Francis Lullier, a man of con-
siderable rank and fortune, who was extremely tender of
him, and gave him a liberal education. He had the cele-*
brated Gassendi for his master in philosophy ; but he dis-
tinguished himself chiefly by his poetical attempts. There
was an uncommon ease in all he wrote ; and he was ex-
cellent in composing with double rhymes. We are obliged
to him for that ingenious work in verse and prose, called
" Voyage de Bachaumont," which he wrote in conjunc-
tion with Bachaumont. Many of the most shining parts
in Moliere's comedies it is but reasonable to ascribe to
him : for Moliere consulted him upon all occasions, and
paid the highest deference to his taste and judgment. He
was intimately acquainted with all the wits of his time, and
with many persons of quality, who used to seek his com-
pany : and we learn from one of his own letters to the
marquis of Chilly, that he had no small share in the favour
of the king, and enjoyed, probably from court, an annuity
of 8000 livres. He is said to have been a very pleasant,
but withal a very voluptuous man. Among other stories
in the Biographia Gallica, we are told that Boileau met-
him one day ; and as be had a great value for ChapAle,
ventured to tell him, in a very friendly manner, that " bis
inordinate love of the bottle would certainly hurt him."
Chapelle seemed very seriously affected ; but this meeting
happening unluckily by a tavern, " Come," says he, " let
us turn in here, and I promise to attend with patience to
all that you shall say." Boileau led the way, in hopes
q{ coQverting him> but both preacher and hearer became
1 Diet. Hist.
124 C H A P £ L L E.
so intoxicated that they were obliged to be sent home in
separate coaches. Chapelle died in 1686, and his poetical
works and " Voyage** were reprinted with additions at the
Hague in 1732, and again in 17 5^, 2 vols. 12mo.^
CHAPELLE (John de la), the descendant of a noble
family, was born at Bourges in 1655, and came to Paris in
his youth, where he was trained up to business, and ob-
tained the place of receiver-general of the finances at
Rochelle. During this employment he found leisure to
indulge his taste for polite literature, and the prince of
Conti having heard of his merits made him one of his se-
cretaries in 1687. The prince also sent him into Swisser-
land on political business, and the king being afterwards
informed of his talents, employed him in the same capa-
city. La Chapelle disclosed his knowledge of the politics
of Europe in a work printed at Paris in 1703, under the
disguise of Basil, in 8 vols. 12mo, entitled " Lettres d'un
Suisse a tin Frangois," explaining the relativp interest of
the powers at war. He wrote also " Memoires historiques
sur la Vie d'Armand de Bourbon, prince de Conti," 1659,
4to, and, if we are not mistaken, translated and published
in English in 1711, 8vo. He also wrote poetry, and some
dramas, in which last he was an unsuccessful imitator of
Kacine. In 1688 he was admitted a member of the French
academy. He died at Paris in 1723.*
CHAPMAN (George), a dramatic poet, and translator
of Homer, was born in. 1557, as generally supposed, in
Kent, but we have no account at what school he was edu-
cated : he was, however, sent to the university when he
was about seventeen years of age, and spent about two
years at Trinity college, Oxford, where he paid little at-
tention to logic or philosophy, but was eminently distin-
guished for his knowledge in the Greek and Roman clas-
sics. About the year 1576 he quitted the university, and
repaired to the metropolis, where he commenced a friend-
ship with Shakspeare, Spenser, Daniel, Marlow, and other
celebrated wits. In 15^5 he published, in 4to, a poent
entitled ** Ovid's Banquet of Sauce, a coronet for his
mistress philosophy, and his amorous zodiac f to which
he added, a translation of a poem into English, called
** The amorbus cdntention of Phillis and Flora," written in
Latin by a friar in 1400. The following year he published
* Moreri. — ^Dict. Hiit.— Bioyraphia Gallica. * Moreri. — Diet. Hist,
CHAPMAN. 125
i» 4io, ** Tbe Shield of Achilles,^ from Homer ; and soon
after, in the same yesvr^ a translation of seven books of the
Iliad, in.4to. In 1600, fifteen books were printed in a
thin folio ; and lastly, without date, an entire translation
of the Ili^d, in folio, under the follo'wing title: ^'The
Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets. Never before in any
language truly translated. With a comment upon some
of his chief places: done according to the Greek by
Qeorge Chapman. At London, printed by Nathaniel
Butter."
. In 1598 he produced a comedy entitled '^ The Blind
Beggar of Alexandria, most pleasantly discoursing his va- .
rious humours, in disguised shapes, full of conceit and
pleasure,'' 4to, biit hot divided either into acts or scenes,
and dedicated to the earl of Nottingham, lord high ad-
miral. The following year he published another comedy
in 4to, called ^* Humorous Day's Mirth," which was acted
by the earl of Nottingham's servants. He is said to have
bjeen much countenanced and encouraged by sir Thomas
Walsingham, who, as Wood informs us, had a son of the
same name, ^' whom Chapman loved from his birth."
Henry, prince of Wales, and Carr, earl of Somerset, also
patronized him; but the former dying, and tbe lat^r be*
ii^g disgraced, Chapman's hopes of preferment oy their
means were frustrated. His interest at court was likewise
probably lessened by the umbrage taken by king James at
some reflections cast. on the Scotch nation- in a comedy
called <^ Eastward Hoe," written by Chapman, in con«
junction with Ben Jonson and John Marston. He is sup*
posed, however, to have had some place at court, either
under king James, or his queen Anne.
In 1 605 he published a comedy in 4to, called '^ All
Fools," the plot of which is founded on Terence's Heauton«>
titnorumenos, and which was performed at Black Friars.
Jacob says that ^< it was accounted an escellent play in
those days, aiKi was acted before king James." The foU
lowing year be produced two other comedies ; one called
*^ The Gentleman Usher," and the other '^ Monsieur
D'Olivc." They were btfth printed in quaito: it is un-
certain whether the first was ever performed ; but tbe latter
was often acted with success at Black Friars. In 1607 he*
published in 4to, " Bussy d' Amboise, a Tragedy," which'
was often exhibited at St. Paul's in the reign of James I.
and after tbe Restoration was revived with success. The
126 CHAPMAN.
I
sume year he publidied in 4to, ** Caeaar and Pompey^ s
Roman Tragedy^ declaxing' their wars, out of whose events
is evicted this proposition, Only a just nian is a free nian.''
The following year he produced *^ The Conspiracy and
Tragedy of Charles, duke of Biron, marshal of France,"
4to, performed at Black Friars, in two parts. In 1611 he
published in 4to, " May-day," which is styled a witty
comedy, and. which was acted at Black Friars ; and in 1612
another comedy, called *f The Widow'^ Tears ;" acted
both at Black and White Friars. It has been observed,
that ^^ some parts of this play are very fine, and the inci*
dents affecting and interesting:" but the catastrophe is
thought exceptionable.
About this time he published an *^ Epicede, or Funeral
S9ng on prince. Henry ;" and when the societies of Lin-
coln's Inn and the Middle Temple, in 1613, had resolved
to exhibit a splendid masque at Whitehall, in honour of
the nuptials of the Palsgrave and the princess Elizabeth,
Chapman was employed for the poetry, and Inigo Jones
for the machinery. The same year he published, in 4to,
a tragedy entitled ^ Bussy d'Amboise his Revenge," not
acted with much applause. In 1714 he published in 4to^
'^ Andromeda liberata; or, the Nuptials of Perseus and-
Andromeda,'' dedicated, in a poetical epistle, to Robert, -
earl of Soolerset, and Frances, his countess. The same -
year he printed his version of the " Odyssey," which he -
also dedicated to the earl of Somerset. This was soon fol- -
lowed by the " Batrachomuomachy," and the " Hymns,'*"
and ^^ Epigrams." In 1616 he published in 12mo, a trans*
lation of *^ Musaeus," with a dedication to Inigo Jones, iiv •
which he is addressed as the most skilful and ingenious
architect that England had yet seen. Mr. Warton re-
marks, that *^ there was an intimate friendship between our -
author and this celebrated restorer of Grecian palaces.**
Chapman also published a paraphrastic translation, in
ver^, of Petrarch's " Seven Penitential Psalms," with " A
Hymn to Christ upon the Cross;" " The Tragedy of Al-
phonsus, emperor of Germany ;" " Revenge for Honour,'*
a tragedy ; and some attribute to him the *^ Two Wise ^
Men," a comedy. He is also supposed to have translated -
^' Hesiod," but it does not appear to have been printed.
He died in 1634, at the age of seventy-seven, and was •
buried on the south side of St. Giles's church in the Fields^ ^
His friend Inigo Jones planned and erected a monument
CHAPMAN. 127
lo his memory, which was unfortunately destroyed with
the old church. He appears to have been much respected
Id his own time ; and, indeed, the man who communicated
Homer to his countrymen, even in such language as that
of Chapman, might justly be considered as their benefac-«
tor; and in > estimating the merit of his version, candid
allowance ought to be made for the age in which he lived,
and the then unimproved state of our language. Of this
translation Mr. Warton says, Chapman ^' is sometimes
paraphrastic and redundant, but more frequently retrenches
or impoverishes what he could not feel and express. In
the mean time be labours with the inconvenience of an'
aukward, inharmonious, and unheroic measure^ imposed
by custom, but disgustful to modern ears. Yet he is not
always without strength or spirit. He has enriched our
language with many compound epithets, much in the
manner of Homer, such as the stiver-footed Thetis, the
silver-thomed Juno, the triplet-feathered helme, the high^
walled Thebes, thefair^fiaired boy, the siher-Jiomng floods, .
the hugely-peopled towns, the Grecians navy^bound, the
strong-winged lance, and many more which might be col-
lected. Dryden reports, that Waller never could read
Chapman^s Homer without a degree of transport. Pope is
of opinion that Chapman covers his defects ^ by a daring
fiery spirit, that animates his translation, which is some-
thing like what one might imagine Homer himself to have
written before he arrived to years of discretion.' But his
fire is too frequently darkened by that sort of fustiaii which
now disfigured the face of our tragedy." Mr. Warton's
copy once belonged to Pope ; in which he has noted many
of Chapman's absolute interpolations, extending sometimes
to the length of a paragraph of twelve lines. A diligent
observer will easily discern that. Pope was no careless
reader of his rude predecessor. Pope complains that
Chapman took advantage of an unmeasureable length of
line : but in reality. Pope's lines are longer than Chap-
nan's. If Chapman affected the reputation of rendering
line for line, the specious expedient of chusing a pro-
tracted .measure which concatenated two lines together,
UQdoiibtedly favoured his usual propensity to periphrasis.
— As a dramatic writer, he had considerable reputation
among his contemporaries, and was justly esteemed for the
escelteoce of his moral character. Wood says that he was
128 CHAPMAN.
a person of most reverend aspect, religious and temperate,
qualities rarely meeting in a poet.'' ^
CHAPMAN (George), LL. D. a learned schoolmaster
in Scotland, was born at Alvab in the county of Banff, in
August 1723, and educated at the grammar-school of Banff,
whence in 1737 he removed to King's college, Aberdeen,
puring the academical vacation, which lasts from April
to October, he engaged as a private tutor ill the family of
a gentleman, by whose interest he was appointed master
of the school of Alvah, and bein^ indulged w;th a substi-
tute, he continued his academical course until April 174!,
when he took the degree of master of arts. Feeling now a
strong propensity to tuition, in order to qualify himself for
conducting some respectable establishment of that kind,
and in a situation of great publicity, he became assistant
teacher in the grammar-school of Dalkeith. On the re-
commendation of his friend and patron Dr. George Stewart,
professor of humanity in the university of Edinburgh, he
was in February 1747 admitted joint master of the gram-
mar-school, of Dumfries with Mr. Robert Trotter, on whose
resignation from age and infirmity, three years after, Mr.
Chapman was promoted to be rector or head-master ; and
in this laborious office he continued with increasing reputa-
tion and success, until Martinmas 1774. A few years after
he had formed and experienced the good effects of the
plan of education which he adopted in this seminary, he
committed it to writing, and occasionally submitted it, in
die various stages of progression, to the inspection and ob-
servations of his particular friends, of whose animadversions
he availed himself by subjecting them to the test of atten-
tive experiment. In the autumn of 1774, desirous of some
relief from his accumulated labours, the consequence of his
extensive fame as a teacher, be resigned his office in the
achool, and confined himself to the instruction pf a few
pupils who boarded in his house, until conceiving that this
limited kind of academy, which parents were often solicit-
ing him to enlarge, might affect the interest of his succes-
sor in the school, he removed, in ISOi, to Inchdrewer near
Banff, a farm that had long been occupied by his father,
and to the lease of which he had succeeded on his death.
^ Bio;. Brit. — Wartoa's Hist, of Pbetry, see luclex.— Bifg. Dram.^r^Cibb^iH
Lives. — Ellis's Specimens.— Malone's Drydea^ vol. III. p. 5^. IV. p. 2b7. —
Nichols's Miscellany Poems. -
CHAPMAN; 129
On this he erected a handsome dwelIing-bouse> capable
of accommodating: a considerable number of boarders for
tuition, an employment he could never relinquish, and for
which few men were better qualified. He afterwards re-
ceived the degree of LL. D. from the Marischal college of
Aberdeen^ and about the same time removed to Edinburgh
to superintend a printing-house for the benefit of a rela-
tioa, and occasionally gave his assistance to the students of
the university. He died at his house in Rose-street, Edin-
burgh, Feb. 22, 1 806, in the eighty-third year of his age,
leaving a character, as a schoolmaster and a gentleman,
which will not soon be forgotten by his numerous pupils
and friends. His publications were; 1. ^^A treatise oa
Education," 1773, 8vo, already noticed, and which added
much to his reputation. It is now in the fifth edition.
2. << Hints on the Education of the Lower Ranks of the
People, and the appointment of Parochial Schoolmasters.*'
3. " Advantages of a Classical Education, &c." 4. " An
abridgment of Mr. Ruddiman^s Rudiments and Latin
Grammar." 5. *^ East India Tracts ; viz. Collegium Ben-
galense, a Latin poem. Translation and Dissertation."
This Latin poem, in Sapphic verse, and in which there is
a considerable portion of fancy, with correct versification^
may be considered as a very uncommon instance of vigouif
of mind at the advanced age of eighty-two. A new edi-
tion of his works, for the benefit of his family, was an-»
nounced soon after his death, in a ^^ Sketch of his Life,**
published in 1808, 8vo, and was^to have been sent to press
as soon as a requisite number of subscriptions were receiv-
ed, but we are sorry to find that this undertaking has not
been so liberally patronized as might have been expected..^;
CHAPMAN (John), D. D. was the son of the rev, Wil-
liam Chapman, rector of Stratfield-sjly in Hampshire^
where he was probably born in 1704. He. was educated at
King's college, Cambridge, A. B. 1727, and A. M. 1731*
His first promotion was the rectory of Mersham in Kent^
and of Alderton, with the chapel of Smeeth ; to which he
>as appointed in 1739 and 1744, being then domestic
chaplain to archbishop Potter. He was also archdeacon
of Sudbury, and treasurer of Chichester, two options.
Being educated at Eton, he was a candidate for the pro^
vostship of that college, and lost it by a small majority^
i Sketch as above,
V0L,iX. K
130 (5 S A P M A T^;
And after a most severe contest with Dr. George. Among
bis papils he had the honour to class the first lord Cam-
den, Ur, Ashton, Horace Walpole, Jacob Bryant, sir W.
Draper, sir George Baker, and others who afterwards at-
tained to considerable distinction in literature. His first
publication was entitled " The Objections of a late anony-
mious writer (Collins) against the book of Daniel, consi-
dered," Cambridge, 1728, 8vo. This was followed by his
" Remarks on Dr. Middleton's celebrated Letter to Dr.
Waterland," published in 1731, and which has passed
through three editions. In his " Eusebius," 2 vols. 8vo,
he defended Christianity against the objections of Mor-
gan, and against those of Tindal in his " Primitive Anti-
quity explained and vindicated." The first volume of
Eusebius, published in 1739, was dedicated to archbishop
Potter ; and when the second appeared, in 1741, Mr.
Chapman styled himself chaplain to his grace. In the
fame year he was made archdeacon of Sudbury, and was
honoured ^itb the diploma of D. D. by the university of
Oxford. He is at this time said to have published the
'* History of the ancient Hebrews vindicated, by Theo-
phanes'Cantabrigiensis," 8vo ; but this was the production
0f Dr. Squire. He published two tracts relating to
** Phlegon," in answer to Dr. Sykes, who had maintained
that the eclipse mentioned by thsit writer had no relation to
the wonderful darkness that happened at our Saviour's Cru-
cifixion. In 1733 Dv. Chapman published a sermon
preached at the consecration of bishop Mawson, and four
other single sermons, 1739, 1743, 1748, and 1752. In a
dissertation written in elegant Latin, and addressed to
Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Tunstall, then public orator of the
urtiversity of Cambridge, and published with bis Latin
€^pistle to Dr. Middleton concerning the genuineness of
some of Cicero's epistles, 1741, Dr. Chapman proved that
Cicero published two Editions of his Academics ; an ori-
ginal thought that bad escaped all former commentators,
and which has been applauded by Dr. Ross, bishop of Exe-
ter, in his edition of Cicero's " Epistolae ad famiiiares,'*
1749. In 1744 Mr. Tunstall published "Observations on
the present Collection of Epistles betvveen Cicero and M.
Brutus^ representing several evident marks of foi^ery in
those epistles," &c. to which iivas added a *^ Letter from
D^r. Chapman, on the ancient numeral characters of the
Koman legions." Dr. Middleton had asserted, that the
CHAPMAN*
131
Roman getieraU, when they had occasion to raise new
legions in distant parts of the empire, used to name them
according to the order in which they themselves had raised
them, without regard to any other legions whatever. This
notion Dr. Chapman controverts and confutes. According
to Dr. Middleton there might have been two thirtieth le-
gions in the empire. This Dr. Chapman denies to have
been customar}' from the foundation of the city to the time
when Brutus was acting against Anthony, but affirms no-
thing of the practice after the death of Brutus. To this
Dr. Middleton made no reply. In 1745 Dr. Chapman was
employed in assisting Dr. Pearce, afterwards bishop of
Rochester, in his edition of ^^ Cicero de Officiis*." About
this time Dr. Chapman introduced Mr. Tunstall and Mn
Hall to archbishop Potter, the one as his librarian, the
other as his chaplain, and therefore bad some reason to
resent their taking an active part against him in the option
cause, though they both afterwards dropped it. Dr. Chap*
man's aboVe-mentioned attack on Dr. Middleton, which be
could not parry, and his interposition in defence of his
much-esteemed friend Dr. Waterland, provoked Dr. Mid-
dleton to retaliate in 1746, by assailing him in what he
thought a much more vulnerable part, in his Charge to the
archdeaconry of Sudbury, entitled " Popery the true bane
of letters." In 1747, to Mr. Mounteney's edition of some
•elect orations of Demosthenes, Dr. Chapman prefixed in
Latin, without his name, observations on the Commenta*
ries commonly ascribed to Ulpian, and a map of aneient
Greece adapted to Demosthenes. Mr. Mounteney had
been schoolfellow with Dr. Chapman at Eton, and was
afterwards a baron of the exchequer in Ireland. If arch-
bishop Potter had lived to another election, Dr. Chapman
was intended for prolocutor. As executor and surviving
trustee to that prelate, his conduct in that trust, particularly
his presenting himself to the precentorship of Lincoln, void
* This Dr. Chapman always called
''our edition." Its excellence was
MBaUoDed with high eBComiutn by a-
cardinal at Rome to Mr. Guthrie.
Our author's aisistance was thus
acknowledged in the preface : " Ne
qaid rero huic editioni deesset quod
^ me parari posset a doctis&imis
quibusdam viris, amicis meis, im-
petraTi, ut bos libros de officiis rele-
garent, et mecum sua <]uisque anno-
taU Gonunuaicarent. Gratis igituv
tibi, lector, ill is referendss sunt; in
primis eruditissimo Job. Chapmanno,
cujus non paucas notas & utiles fc
doctas meis adjunxi, ejus nomine ad
finem uniusicujusque apposito. Mulr
turn debet illi viro respublica literaria;
qui nonnuUa alia lectu dignissima jam
in lucem protuUt, plura (ut spero)
prolaturus, cum omni fere doctrinsi
generi se tradit, incredibili pene Ak
eadem felici diligentia.''
K 2
132 CHAPMAN.
by the death of Dr. Trimnell (one of his grace's options)^
was brought into chancery by the late Dr. Richardson^
when lord keeper Henley in 1760 made a decree in Dr.
Chapman's favour ; but, on an appeal to the house of lords,
the decree was reverse'd, and Dr. Richardson ordered to be
presented. . When Mr. Yorke had finished his argument,
in which he was very severe on Dr. Chapman, Mr, Pratt,
afterwards lord Camden, who had been his pupil, and Was
then his counsel, desired him, by a friend, not to be un-
easy, for that the next day he ^' would wash him as whit^
as snow." Thinking his case partially stated by Dr. Burn,
in his ^' Ecclesiastical Law," vol. I. (article Bishops), a»
it was taken from the briefs of his adversaries, he expostu-
lated with him on the subject by letter, to which the doctor
candidly replied, " that he by no means thought him ci-imr-
nal, and in the next edition of bis work would certainly
add his own representation." On this affair, however. Dr.
Hurd passes a very severe sentence in his correspondence
with Warburton lately published. Dr. Chapman died the
J 4th of October, 1784, in the 80th year of his age.*
CHAPMAN (Thomas), D. D. the son of John Chap-
man, of Billinghagn, in the county of Durham, was born at
that place in 1717, aud educated at Richmond school in
Yorkshire. He afterwards entered of Christ college,
Cambridge, where he took his degrees of A. B. 1737, A.M.
174], and obtained a fellowship. In 1746 he was chosen
master of Magdalen college, and had the degree of LL. D.
conferred on him in 1748, and that of D. D. in 1749. In
1748 he served the office of Tice- chancellor, and was ap-
pointed one of his majesty's chaplains. In 1749, he was
rector of Kirby-over-blbwer in Yorkshire, in 1750 he was
presented by the king to a prebendal stall in the cathedral
of Durham; and in 1758^ was appointed official to the
dean and chapter. He died sCt Cambridge, June 9, 1760,
in his forty-third year, and was. interred iu the chapel of
Magdalen college. " He died," says bishop Hurd, " in the
flower of his life and fortune ; I knew him formerly very well.
He was in bis nature a vain and busy man." t)r. Chap-
man is now known only by his ^' Essay on the Roman Se*-
nate," 1750, in which he coincides with Dr. Middleton's
opinion on the same subject. They were both animad-
1 Bibl. Topog. Dritan. — Harwood's AlunnDi Etonenseii.— Nichols's Bowyer.'-^
Lcland's Deistical Writers.
C H A P O N E. 133
verted on by Mr. Hooke^ the Roman historian^ in his
"Observations, &c." published in 1758, 4to. *
CHAPONE (Hester), an ingenious English lady, was
the daughter of Thomas Mulso, esq. of Twy well in North-
amptonshire, and was born Oct. 27, 1727. At a very
early age she exhibited proofs of a lively imagination and
superior understanding. - It is said that at nnie years of
age she composed a romance, entitled " The Loves of
Amoret and Melissa,*' which, we. are told, exhibited "fer-
tility of invention, and extraordinary specimens of genius."
Her mother was a beauty, with ail the vanity that unhap-
pily attaches to beauty, and fearing that her daughter's
understanding might become a more attractive object than
the personal charms on which she valued* herself, she took
no pleasure in the progress which Hester seemed to make,
and if she did not obstruct, employed at least no extraor-
dinary pains in promoting her education. This mother,
however, died when her daughter was yet young, and a
circanistance which otherwise might have been of serious
consequence, seemed to strengthen the inclination miss
Mulso bad shewn to cultivate her mind. She studied the
French and Italian languages, and made some progress in
the Latin. She read the best authors, especially those
who treat of morals and philosophy. To these she added
a critical perusal of the Holy Scriptures, but history, we
are told, made no part of her studies until the latter part
of her life. Her acquaintance with Riciiardson, whose
novels were the favourites of her sex, introduced her to
Mn Chapone, a young gentleman then practisuig law in
the Temple. Their attachment was mutual, but not hasty,
or imprudent. She obtained her fatner's consent, and a
social intimacy continued lor a considerable period, before
it ended in marriage. In the mean time, miss Mulso be^
came acquainted with the celebrated miss Carter ; a cor-
respondence took place between them, which increased
their mutual esteem, and a friendship was thus cemented,
which lasted during a course of more than fifty years.
Miss Mulso's first production appears to have been the
Ode to Peace, and that addressed to miss Carter on her
intended publication of the ti'anslation of Epictetus. About
the same time she wrote the story of Fidelia, which misB
* Hutchiason's Durham, vol II. p. 182. — Hurd and Warburton's Lelterf,
•p. ^?5, 226, 4to» .
1S4 C H A P O N E.
Carter and her other friends virho had read it, persuaded
her to send to the editor of the " Adventurer."
In 1^760 she was married to Mr. Chapone, removed to
London, and for some time lived with her husband in
lodgings in Carey-street, and afterwards in A run del- street.
She enjoyed every degree of happiness which mutual at-
tachment could confer, but it was of short duration. In
less than ten months after they were married, Mr. Chapone
was seized with a fever which terminated his life, after
about a week's illness. At fir^t Mrs. Chapone seemed £o
bear this calamity with fortitude, but it preyed on her
health, and for some time her life was despaired of. She
recovered, however, gradually, and resigned herself to a
state of life in which she yet found many friends and many
consolations. Most of her time was passed in London, or
in occasional visits to her friends, among whom she had the
happiness to number many distinguished characters of both
sexes, lord Ly ttelton, Mrs. Montague, and the circle who
usually visited her house. In 1770 she accompanied Mrs.
Montague into Scotland. In 1773 she published her " Let-
ters on the Improvement of the Mind," originally in-
tended for the use of her niece, but given to the world at
the request of Mrs. Montague, and her other literary friends.
As this was her first avowed publication, it made her name
more generally known, and increased the number of her
admirers. This work was followed by a " Volume of Mis-
cellanies,'^ including some pieces formerly published with-
out her name.
The latter years of her life were embittered by the loss
of the greater part of the friends of her youth ; and after
the death of her brother in 1799, as London had no more
charms for her, she determined to settle at Winchester,
where her favourite niece was married to the rev. Ben.
Jeffreys; but the death of this young lady in child-bed,
made her relinquish the design, and remain in her cheerless
lodgings in London. So many privations had now begun
to affect her mind, and her sympathizing friends persuaded
her to remove to Hadley, where she died Dec. 25, 1801,
in the seventy- fourth year of her age. In 1807, her whole
works were published in 2 vols. 12mo, with a portion of her
literary correspondence, and an interesting memoir of her
life, to which we are indebted for the above sketch. *
1 Life as abOTCw-Biitlfb Essayist!^ vol, XXIII. Preface to th« Adrenturer,
p. 33.
C H A P P E- 13^
CHAPPE D'AUTEROCHE (John), an eminent French
astronomer, was born at Mauriac, a town in Upper Au-
vergne, on the 23d of Ma}% 1728, o( John Chappe, lord
of the barony of Auteroche, and Magdalen de la Farge,
daughter of Peter de la Farge, lord of la Pierre. From
bis birth he enjoyed the valuable advantage of not being
under the necessity of struggling, like many men of genius,
with adversity and penury. Tlie distinguished rank which
his parents held in their province, added to their wealth
and ppulence, enabled them to bestow upon their son an
excellent education, the foundation of which was laid at
Maui^iac, where he began bis studies. Having made con-
siderable progress here, he went afterwards to finish them
at the college de Louis le Grand. M. Chappe, from his
earliest infancy, shewed a surprising turn for drawing and
the mathematiqs. Descartes was scarcely eight years of
9ge when be was styled a philosopher, and Chappe at
that age might have been called a mathematician. An
irresistible impulse, and singular disposition, as if innate,
led him to draw plans and make calculations ; but these
pursuits, quite foreign to the studies in which he was then
engaged, occupied no part of that time which was allotted
for them. He applied to the former only at those mo-
ments which the regulations of the college suffered him to
call his own.
His active genius discovered to him in the silence and
soUtude of the cloister resources which he had little ex-*
pected. During his course of philosophy, he formed an
acquaintance with a carthusian, named Dom Germain,
from whom he learned the elements of the mathematics
and of astronomy. In these two sciences he made a- rapid
progress ; for the zeal of the master was well seconded by
the diligence of the scholar, ^;ho followed his literary pur-
suits with the same ardour and enthusiasm as the generality
of young men follow dissipation and pleasure. So singular
a phenomenon could not long remain unknown. Fathev
de la Tour, then principal of the college, being struck
with young Chappe, mentioned him to M. Cassini, and
spoke of the progress he had made tn such high terms, thai
tbe latter became very desirous to see some of his works*
After causing him to make a few experiments in his pre-*
sence, that celebrated academician could not help admir-
ing his happy disposition ; but he did not confine himself
tf> praises only. Being a warm patron and protec^tor of merits
136 C H A P P E.
he from that moment resolved to cultivate young Chappe^s
talents, and to endeavour to render them useful to society.
With this view he employed him in taking plans of several
of the royal buildings, and made him assist in delineating
the general map of France.
The abb£ Chappe, however, made himself known in the
astronomical world by a work of much greater importance.
This was a translation of the works of Dr. Halley from the
English. This translation appeared in 1752 ; and the ad-
ditions made by the translator, and the new inferences he
drew from the labours of the English astronomer, placed
bim almost on a level with the author. The abb6 Chappe
had now given too striking a specimen of his talents not to
attract the notice of government. The king having ordered
plans of several places in the district at Bitche in Lorraine
to be taken, and the forest in the neighbourhood of the
town of that name to be surveyed, the abbe Chappe's
merit procured him the superintendance and direction of
this business ; and the event shewed, that the ministry
could not have chosen a person more deserving of their
confidence. On his return from this expedition he was
elected a member of the royal academy of sciences ; and
on the 17th of January 1759, he obtained the place of
assistant astronomer, vacant by the promotion of M . de la
Lande to that of associate.
The two comets which appeared in 1760 gave the abb6
an opportunity of shewing that he was not unworthy of the
honour conferred on him ; he observed them both with the
greatest assiduity and attention, and the result of bis ob-
servations was published in the memoirs of that year, with
refiections on the zodiacal light, and an aurora borealis
which appeared about the same period. As the transit of
Venus over the sun's disk, which Halley announced would
happen (?n the 6th of June 176 1,, seemed to promise great
advantage to astronomy, it very much excited the curiosity
of the learned throughout all Europe. It was necessslry,
however, in order to derive benefit from it, that it should
be observed in some very remote places ; and as Tobolsk,
the capital of Siberia, find the island of Roderigo in the
East- Indies, were thought to be the properest, the diflSl-
eulty was to find astronomers bold enough to transport
themselves thither. But what will not the love of science
prompt men to do ? M. Pinge offered to go to the island
gf Roderigo^ and Tohokk remained to the abb^ Cbapge^
C H A P P E. 137
irfio, had the matter been left to himself, would have made
no other choice.
The abb^ set out for the place of his destination in the
month of November 1760. After encountering a variety
of almost incredible difficulties,, he arrived at Tobolsk,
where ignorance and superstition prepared new danger for
him. The simple Russians, attentive to all his actions,
beheld his preparations with the utmost terror ; the obser-
vatory which he caused to be erected, and the instruments
he transported thither, increased their alarm; and the
overflowing of the river Irtish, which inundated part of the
city, a natural consequence of the thaw that took place,
served still more to confirm them in their suspicions. The
governor of Tobolsk, a man of education, to whom the
world is indebted for a correct chart of the Caspian, was
obliged to give the abb^ a guard for his protection. The
moment so long wished for, and purchased by such fatigue
and peril, being at length arrived, the abb^, on the 5th of
June, inade every necessary preparation for observing the
transit; but the pleasure which he anticipated from the
success of his expedition was not free from a mixture of
pain, for the sky, during the night, became quite overcast.
This was a new source of uneasiness to the abb^ ; but
luckily for science, a favourable wind, which sprung up at
sun-rise, revived his hopes, by withdrawing the veil that
obscured the object of his researches. The observation
was made with the necessary precision, in presence of M.
Ismailof, count Poushkin, and the archbishop of Tobolsk :
and the academy of sciences at Paris, as well as that of
Petersburg^ received the particulars of this event «oon after
by a courier whom M. Ismailof immediately dispatched*
The glory of this observation had preceded the abb6, and
prepared new honours for htm at St Petersburg. The
empress, with a view of inducing him to settle there, made
bim an offer, by means of baron de Breteuil, of the distin-
guished place which had been occupied by M. Delisle;
But choosing rather to pass his days at home, he rejected
the offers made him. On his arrival in France he began
to prepare an account of his journey, which was published
in 1768, in 3 vols. 4to, elegantly printed and adorned
with engravings. Besides the account of the particular
object of his journey, the philosopher finds in it the history
of mankind and of nature ; and the statesman the political
system ancl interest of nations. The great labour required
ns . C H A P P E,
to prepare this work for publicatipa did not interrupt this
abba's astronomical pursuits. , He enriched the memoiry
of the academy with several instructive pieces; and that
which he presented in 1767 is the more valuable^ as it
confirms the experiments made upon electricity at To-
bolsk^ and demonstrates the identity of the electric fluid
with lightning.
Another transit of VeDUs, which, according to astrono-
mical calculation, was to happen pn the 3d of June 1769,
afforded the abb6 Cbappe a new opportunity of manifest-
ing his zeal for the advancement of astronomy. California
was pointed out as the properest place in that quarter for
observing this phaenomenon; and the abb^, who had tri-'
umphed over the' rigoui-s of the north, thought be could
Inrave. also the ardours of the torrid zone. He departed
therefore from Paris in 1768, in company with M. PauH^
an engineer, and M. Noel, a draftsman, whose talents
gave reason to hope, that he might contribute to render
the expedition interesting in more respects than one. He
carried with him also a watchmaker, to take care of his
instruments, and to keep them in proper repair. On his
arrival at Cadiz, the.vessfel belonging to the Spanish fiota,
in which he was to embark for Vera Cruz, not being ready
in time, he obtained an order for equipping a brigantin4&,
which carried twelve men. The fragility of this vessel,
which would have alarmed any other person, appeared to
the abbe as adding to the merit of the enterprise. Judging
of its velocity by its lightness, he considered it as better
calculated to gratify his impatience; and in this he was
not deceived : for he arrived safe at the capital of New
Spain, where he met with no delay. The marquis de
Croix, governor of Mexico, seconded his activity so well,
that he reached St. Joseph nineteen days before the tiixie
caarbed out for the observation. The village of St. Joseph,
where the abb^ landed, was desolated by an infectious
joUsorder, which had raged for some time, and destroyed
great numbers of the inhabitants. In vain did his friends,
from a tender solicitude for his preserv^^tion, urge him to
remove from the infection, not to expose himself impru^
dently, and to take his station at some distance towards
Cape San Lucar. His lively and ardent zeal for the pro«
mo^n of science, shut his ears against all these remonr
fitrances; and the only danger he dreaded was, that of
losing the opportunity of accomplishing the object of hU
C H A P P E. ' IM
t^isfaes. He had the good fortune, however, to tniake hit
observation in the completest manner on the 3d of June t
but, becoming a victim to his resolution, he was three
days after attacked by the distemper whi€h seemed hitherti^
to have respected him. Surrounded by his acquaintanceit
either sick or dying, and destitute of that assistance which
he had given them as long as health remained, the abbA
was struggling between life and death, when by his own
imprudence he destroyed every ray of hope, and hastened
that fatal period which deprived the world of this valuable
member of society. The very day he had taken physic be
insisted upon observing an eclipse of the moon ; but^
scarcely had he finished his observation, when bis disorder
grew considerably worse, and the remedies administered
not being able to check its progress, he died on the 1st of
August 1769, in the 42d year of his age.
Had it not been for the care of a very respectable French
academician, the fruits of this observation would have,
been entirely lost to the learned. The abb^ Chappe haV'^
ing at bis death committed his papers to the care of M«
Pauli, they were afterwards arranged and published by
M. Cassini, the son, who at an age when others only afford
hopes of their future celebrity, had acquired the highest
reputation ; and if any thing could console the public for
the loss occasioned by the abb6 being prevented from put-
ting the last band to his work, it certainly was the seeing
it appear under the auspices of so able an editor.
The evening before his departure from Paris, being at
supper with count de Merci, the Imperial ambassador^
several of his friends represented to him, that he ought not
to undertake such a voyage, and offered to lay a consider-*'
able wager that he would never return. " Were I certain,*'
replied the abb^, " that I should die the next morning
after I had made my observation, I would not hesitate
amouient, nor be in the least deterred from embarking.'*
An heroic sentiment, which paints in a few words the cha«
racter of this learned man.
The published works of M. Chappe, are, 1. *^ The As-
tronomical Tables of Dr. Halley ; with observations and
additions," 1754, 8vo. 2. *' Travels into tSiberia," i76Si,
2 vols. fol. 3. " Voyage to California to observe the
transit of Venus over the Sun, the 3d of June 1769,^
1772, 4to. 4. He had a considerable number of papers
iosented in th<? Mem^rs of the Academy, for the years
146 C H A P P E L.
1760, 1761, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1767, and 1768, chiefly
relating to astronomical matters. *
CHAPPEL (WiLUAM), avery learned and pious divine,
bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross, in Ireland, was de-
scended, as he himself tells us, from parents in narrovir
circumstances, and was born at Lexington, in Notting-
hamshire, I>ec. 10, 1512. He was sent to a grammar-
school at Mansfield, in the same county ; and thence, at
the age of seventeen, removed to Christ's-coUege, in Cam-
bridge ; of which, after having taken his degrees of B. and
M. A. he was elected fellow in 1607. He became a very
eminent tutor, and was also remarkable for his abilities as
ia disputant, concerning which the following anecdotes are
recorded. In 1624 king James visited the university of
Cambridge, lodged in Trinity-college, arid was enter-
tained with a philosophical act, and other academical per-
formances. At these , exercises Dr. Roberts of Trinity -
college was respondent at St. Mary's, where Chappel as
opponent pushed him so hard, that, finding himself unable
to keep up the dispute, he fainted. Upon this, the king,
who valued himself much upon his skill in such matters,
undertook to maintain the question, but with no better
success than the doctor ; for Chappel was so much his su-
perior at these logical weapons, that his majesty openly
professed his joy to find a man of great talents so good a.
subject. Many years after this, sir William St. Leger
riding to Cork with the popish titular dean of that city,
.Chappel, then dean of Cashel, and provost of Dublin, ac*
cidentally overtook them ; upon which sir William, who
was then president of Munster, proposed that the two
deans should dispute, which, though Chappel was not
forward to accept, yet he did not decline. But the
popish dean, with great dexterity and address, extri-
cated himself from this difficulty, saying, ^' Excuse me,
sir ; I don't care to dispute with one who is wont to. kill
his man."
It is probable that he would have spent his days in col-
lege, if he had not received an unexpected offer from
Laud, then bishop of London, of the deanery of Cashel,
in Ireland ; which preferment, though he was much dis-
turbed at Cambridge by the calumnies of some who envied
his reputation, he was yet very unwilling to accept, For
1 From the last edit, of this Dictionary. — ^Dict Hist.
C H A P P E L. 141
being a man of a quiet easy temper, be had no inclination
to stir, nor was at all ambitious of dignities ; but he de*
termined at length to accept the offer, went over to Ire-
land accordingly^ and was installed August 20, 1633. Soon
after he was made provost of Trinity-college, Dublin, by
Laud, then archbishop of Canterbury, and chancellor of
the university of Dublin, who, desirous of giving a nev^
form to the university, looked upon Cbappel as the fittest
person to settle the establishment that was proposed*
Chappel took great pains to decline this charge, -the bur-^
den of which he thought too heavy, and for this purpose
returned to England in May 1634, but in vain. Upon
this he went down to Cambridge, and resigned his fellow-
ship ; which to him, as himself says, was the sweetest of
earthly preferments. He also visited bis native country,
and taking his last leave of his ancient and pious mother,
he returned to Ireland in August. He was elected provost
of Trinity-college, and had the care of it immediately
comaiitted to him ; though he was not sworn into it till
June 5, 1637, on account of the new statutes not being
sooner settled and received. The exercises of the univer-
sity were never more strictly looked to, nor the discipline
better observed than in his time ; only the lecture for
teaching Irish was, after his admission, wholly waved.
Yet, that be might mix something of the pleasant with the
pro6table, and that young minds might not be oppressed
with too much severity, he instituted, as sir James Ware
tells us, among the juniors, a Roman commonwealth, which
continued during the Christmas vacation, and in which
they had their dictators, consuls, censors, and other of-
ficers of state in great splendour. And this single cir-
cumstance may serve to give us a true idea of the man,
who was remarkable for uniting in his disposition two very
different qualities, sweetness of temper, and severity of
manners.
In 1638 his patrons, the earl of Strafford, and the arch-
bishop of Canterbury, preferred him to the bishoprics of
Cork, Cloyne, and Ross; and he was consecrated at St.
Patrick's, Dublin, Nov. 11, though he had done all he
could to avoid this honour. By the king's command he
continued in his provostship till July 20, 1640 > before
which time he had endeavoured to obtain a small bishopric
in England, that he might return tovhis native country, as
he tells us, and die in peace. But his endeavours were
U9 ' C H A P P E L.
fruitlesis; and be was left in Ireland to feel all the fury of
the storni^ which h^ bad loiyg foreseen. He was attacked
in the house of commons with great bitterness by the pn*
jitati party, and obliged to come to Dublin from Cork>
and to put in sureties for his appearance. June 1641,
Articles of impeachment were exhibited against bim to the
Iiouse of peers, consisting of fourteen, though the substance
€f them was reduced to two ; the first, perjury, on a sup-f^
posed breach of his oath as provost ; the second, malice
towards the Irish, founded on discontinuing the Irish lee*
ture during the time of his being provost. The prosecu*
lion was urged with great violence, and, as is supposed^
for no other reason but because he had enforced uniformity
«nd strict church discipline in the college. This divine's
fate was somewhat peculiar, for although his conduct was
consistent, be was abused at Cambridge for being a pu<-
ritan, and[ in Ireland for being a papist. Yet as we find the
name o^ archbishop Usher among his opponents in Ireland^
there seems reason to think that there was some foundation
for his unpopularity, independent of what was explicitly
stated. While, however, he laboured under these troubles,
he was exposed to still greater, by the breaking out of the
rebellion in the latter end of that year. He was under a
kind of confinement at Dublin, on account of the impeach*
ment which was still depending ; but at length obtained
leave to embark for England, for the sake of returning
thence to Cork, which, from Dublin, as things stood, be
could not safely do. He embarked Dec. 26, 164], and
the next day landed at Milford-haven, after a double
escape, as himself phrases it, from the Irish wolves and
the Irish sea. He went from Milford-baren to Peqibroke,
^nd thence to Tenby, where information was made of him
to the mayor, who committed bim to gaol Jan. 25. After
. lying there seven weeks, he was set at liberty by the in*
terest of sir Hugh Owen, a member of parliament, upon
giving bond in lOOO/. for his appearance ; and March 16,
set out for Bristol. Here he learnt that the ship bound
from Cork to England, with a great part of his effects, was
lost near Mipehead ; and by this, among other things, be
lost his choice collection of books. After such a series of
misfortunes, and the civil confusions increasing, he with-*
drew to his native soil, where be spent the remainder of
bis life in retirement and study; and died at Derby, where
he had some time resided, upon Whitsunday, 1649.
C H A P P E L. 14S
He published the year before his deaths ^' Methodus
€oncionandi/' that is^ the method of preaching, which for
its usefulness was also translated into English. His ^^ Use
of Holy Scripture," was printed afterwards in 1653. He
left behind him also his own life, written by himself in
Latin, which has been« twice printed ; first from a MS. ia
the hands of sir Philip Sydenham, hart, by Hearne, and
a second time by Peck, from a MS, still preserved in Tri»
Tiity-bail, Cambridge, for the author left two copies of it.
Mr. Peck adds, by way of note upon his edition, the fol-
lowing extract of a letter from Mr. Beaupr^ Bell : " 'Tis
certain * The whole Duty of Man' was written by one who
suffered by the troubles in Ireland ; and some lines in this
piece give great grounds to conjecture that bishop Chappel
was the author. March 3, 1734.'* Thus we see this
prelate, as well as many other great and good persons^
comes in for part of the credit of that excellent book ; yet
there is no explicit evidence of his having been the autfacnr
of it. It appears indeed to have been written before the
death of Charles I. although it was not published till 1657^
and the manner of it is agreeable enough to this prelate's
plain and easy way of writing ; but then there can be no
reason given why his name should be suppressed in the
tide^page, when a posthumous work of his was actually
published with it but a few years before. ^
CHAPP£LOW (Leonard), an eminent oriental scholar,
•f whom we regret that our information is so scanty, wasi
born in 1683, and educated at St. John's college, Cam»
bridg^, where he took his bachelor's degree in 1712, his
master's in 1716, and that of B. D. in 1723. To his other
studies he united an uncommon application to oriental
languages, in which such was bis reputation, that he wa»
chosen to succeed the learned Simon Ockley in 1720, as
Arabic professor. He held also a fellowship in his college^
until they bestowed on him the livings of Great and Little
Hormead, in Hertfordshire. To this fellowship he was
chosen in 1717, in the room of a Mr. Tomkinson, one of
the nonjuror-fellows ejected at that time by act of parlia-
ment. The celebrated Mr. Baker was another, and always
afterwards designated himself " Socius ejectus." In Fe-
bruary 1754-5, we find Mr. Chappelow a candidate for
the mastership of St. John's college, but he failed, although
•
I Bio||. Brit— Peck's Desiderata.
144 CHAPPELOW.
/
after a very severe contest. Mr. Chappelow constantly
read lectures during one term on the Oriental languages^
ibr which he had a peculiar enthusiasm^ and in which he
was critically versed. This inclined him to the publication
of the first work by which his name was more extensively
known^ his edition of Spencer " De Legibus Hebrseorunt Ri«
tualibus.'^ Spencer, after the first publication of this capital
work in 1685, had continued to make improvements in it,
and by will left such of his papers and writings as were
perfect, to be added in their proper places, if ever there
should be occasion to reprint it ; with the full right and
property of them to his executor, bishop (afterwards arch-
bishop) Tenison, who bequeathed them to the uni4^ersity of
Cambridge, after having caused them to be prepared for
the press, with fifty pounds towards the expences of
printing. These the senate, by grace, gave leave to -Mr.
Chappelow to publish, and as an encouragement, bestowed
upon him the archbishop^s benefaction likewise. The work
was accordingly executed in 1727, 2 vols. fol. by a sub-
scription of two guineas the small, and three guineas the
large paper, begun in 1725. Bene' t college, on this oc-
casion, was at the expence of prefixing an elegant engra-
ving of the author, as a small testimony of gratitude to
their munificent benefactor* In 1^30, he published " Ele-
menta Linguae Arabicae," chiefly from Erpenius.
Mr. Chappelow' s next publication, at a considerable dis-
tance of time, was "A Commentary on the book of .lob, in
which is inserted the Hebrew text, and English translation ;
with a paraphrase from the third verse of the third chapter^
where it is supposed the metre begins, to the seventh verse
of the forty-second chapter, where it ends," 1752, 2 vols*
4to. In this curious work Mr. Chappelow maintains that *
an Arabic poem wa$ written by Job himself, and that it
was modelled by a Hebrew at a later period, but this pe-*
riod he does not take upon him to ascertain. In other re-*
spects his opinions, as to the intention of this sublime book,
are judicious. In 1758 he published " The Traveller ; an
Arabic poem, entitled Tograi, written by Abu Ismael ;
translated into Latin, and published with notes in 1661,
by Dr. Pocock, and now rendered into English in the same
Iambic measure as the original ; with some additional notes
to illustrate the poem,^' 4to. This, although ably exe-*
cuted, is rather a paraphrase than a translation, but well
expresses the sense of the original. In 1765 be published
C H A P P E L O W. U5
^^ Two Sermons concerning the State, of the Soul on its im-*
niediate separation from the body ; written by bishop Bull|
together with some extracts relating to the same subject ;
taken from writers of distinguished note and character^
With a preface/* Svo. This preface is all that belongs to
Mr. Chappelow, and is very short tie coincides with
bishop Builds opinion, that the final state of man is deter-
mined at death, and he supports it by extracts from Til«
]otson, Whitby, Lightfoot, Stanhope^ Smalridge, and
Limborch. His last publication was entitled *^ Six Assem-^
biies ; or Ingenious Conversations of learned men among;
the Arabians, &c. formerly published by the celebrated
Schultens, in Arabic and Latin, with large notes and ob-
servations, &c." 1767, Svo. This amusing collection of
prose and poetry is part of a larger work written in Arabic
by Hariri of Barsa, a city in the kingdom of Babylon, and
throws considerable light upon many passages of Scripture.
The editor's notes are very valuable. Mr. Chappelow,
after holding his professorship with much reputation for
nearly half a century, died Jan. 14, 1768, in his seventy-
fifth year, leaving a widow, who died July 177S^, at Cam-
bridge. *
CHAPUZEAU (Samuel), a protestant writer, born at
Geneva, whose family were originally of Poitiers, was
preceptor to William III. king of England ; afterwards go-
vernor of the pages to George duke of Brunswick Lunen-
burg, which post he held till his death, August 31, 1701,
at Zell. Three days before his death he wrote a sonnet, in
which he complains of being old, blind, and poor. He
collected and printed ." Tavernicr's Voyages,'* 1675, 4to»
Jurieu having written against what is there said of the
l)utch, in his book entitled " L'Esprit de M. Arnauld,'*
Chapuzeau answered him in 1691, by a work called ^* De«
'fense du Sieur Samuel Chapuzeau contre PEsprit de M»
Arnauld." He wrote, besides, ^' Eloge de la Ville de
Lyons," 4to. *' Une Relation de Savoye ; P Europe vi-
vante, ou relation nouvelle, historique, politique, et de tons
les Etats, tels quUls etoient en 1666,"' Paris, 1667, 4to.
He also published ^^ Traite d6 la maniere de Pr^cher, suivi
de quatre Sermons prononc^es a Cassel.'* Chapuzeau
tried every kind of writing, even comedies, the greatest part
\ Cole's MS AtheHdB in Brit. Mus.— Bidg. Brit art. Spcneer.-^Month. a'o<i
Crk. Reviews. — ^Nichols's Bowjrer.
Vol. IX' L
146 C H A P U Z E A U.
of which have been collected under the title of '* La Mus^
enjouee, on le Theatre Comique." In 1694 he published
the plan of an " Historical, Geographical, and Philological
Dictionary,'* on which he employed many years, but it
was not finished at his death. He complains, however,
of Moreri having availed himself of .his manuscripts, but
does not inform us where he found them. '
CHARAS (Moses), a skilful apothecary, borrfatUsez,
in Upper Languedoc, in 1618, followed his profession at
Orange, from whence he went and settled at Paris. Having
obtained a considerable share of reputation by his treatise
on the virtues and properties of treacle, he was chosen
to deliver a course of chemistry at the royal garden of
plants at Paris, in which he acquitted himself with general
applause during nine years. His " Pharmacopoeia," 1673,
of which an improved edition by Monnier was published ia
1753, 2 vols. 4 to, was the fruit of his lectures and his studies,
and has been translated into all the languages of Europe,
and even into the Chinese, for the accommodation of the
emperor. The edicts against the Calvinists obliged him
to quit his country in 1 680. He went over to England,
from thence to Holland, and afterwards into Spain with the
ambassador, who brought him to the assistance of his master
Charles II. languishing in sickness from bis birth. Every
good Spaniard was at that time convinced that the vipers
tor twelve leagues round Toledo were innoxious, ever since
they were deprived of their venom by the fiat of a famous
archbishop. The French doctor endeavoured to combat
this error, and the physicians of the court, envious of the
merit of C haras, failed not to take umbrage at this im-
piety ; they complained of him to the inquisition, from
whence he was not dismissed till he had abjured the pro-
testant faith. Charas was then seventy-two j'ears old. He
returned to Paris, and was admitted a member of the royal
academy, and there he continued until his death, Jan. 17,
1698. «
C HARDIN (Sir John), a celebrated traveller, the son
of an opulent protestant jeweller, was born at Paris Nov.
16, 1643. For some time it is probable that he followed
his father's profession ; but he was only twenty- two years
old when, in 1664 (not 1665, as Niceron says), he went to
the East Indies. There be remained for six years, pass-
» Moieii.— .L'ATOcat « Moreri.— Diet. Hist— Haller BibK Med.
C H A R D I N. 147
ing his time chiefly in Persia* He published qo regulat
account of this voyage, which he modestly says he con-
ceived might be uninteresting, but confined himself to a
detail of certain events of whieh he had been an eye-.wit-
ness. This was contained in a twelves volume printed at
Paris in I67I9 the year after he, returned, under the title of
^' Le Couronnement de Soliman II. roi de Perse, et ce qui
s^est pass6 de plus memorable dans les deux premieres an-
nj£es de son regne/' In this work he was assisted by a
Persian nobleman, Mirza Sefi, one of the most learned
men of the kingdom, who was at that time in disgrace,
aod confined to his palace at Ispahan, where Mr. Chardin
was entertained and instructed by him in the Persian lan«'
guage and history. It is introduced by a dedication to the
Hog which, according to the '^ Carpenteriana," was writ-
tea by . M. Charpentier. M. Petis de la Croix criticised
the work with some severity, as to the orthography, and
etymology of some Peraiau words, and Tavernier objected
to the title, insisting tjiat Soliman never wore the crown ;
but Chardin found an able defender in P. Aoge de la
Brosse.
After Chardin's return to Paris, he remained there only
fifteen months, the king of Persia having made him his
agent in 1666, and commissioned him to purchase several
tnokets of .value. Chardin accordingly left Paris Aug.|i7^
1671, and set sail in l^ovember from Leghorn in a vessel
bound for Smyrna, again visited Persia, and did not return
to Europe until 1677. He now determined to settle ia
England, and came to London in April 1681, and on the
24th of that month was knighted by Charles II. The jsame
day he married a young lady of Rouen, the daughter of a
pFotestant refugee in London. Next year he was chosen
a fellow of the royal society. After this, Charles II. seat
him to Holland ; and in 1683, we find him there aa agent
for the English East India Company. In 1686 he publish-
ed the first part of his Voyages, (the other not appearing
HDtil 1711), under the title of ^^ Journal du Voyage de
Chardin en Perse, et aux Indes Orientales, par la«Mer
Noire et par la Colchide," folio. This was immediaitely
translated into English under bis inspection, and published.
the same year. The dedication to James 11. is singular for
a high complimentary strain, arising from his gratitude to
Charles and James for their patronage of him, and, what
he was more unfortunate in attempting, a prophecy of the
L2
14S C H A R D I N.
duration of Jameses reign. After this he carried on a eon-
siderable trade in jewels, but continued his studies of the
oriental languages and antiquities. The continuation of
his Travels was published along with the first part much
enlarged at Amsterdam in 3 vols. 4to, and 10 vols. Svo,
with plates on which he employed the skill of M. Grelot,
being himself no draftsman. There was also a new edition
at Amsterdam in 1735, 4 vols. 4to*. He died, according
to Musgrave^s ^* Adversaria/' on Dec. 25, and not Jan. 5,
1713, as the French biographers report, and tlie register
of Chiswick proves that he was buried there December 29..
There is no memorial of him at Chiswick, but there is a
monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey, with
only this inscription, ** Sir John Chardin. — Nomen sibi
fecit eundo." He lived in bis latter days at a house in
Tumham-green, which at his death was sold to Thomas
Lutwyche, esq. His Travels have been translated into
English, or at least large extracts in Harris's and other
collections of voyages, and into Gerq^an, and Flemish ; and
as they contain authentic and valuable information wkh
regard to the religion, manners, products, and commerce,
&c. of the countries he visited, they obtained an extensive
circulation. Among other curious particulars, he records
several medical facts ; and particularly an account of his
o^n case, when he was attacked with a dangerous fever at
Gombron, and cured by the country physicians, who em«
ployed the repeated affusion of cold water. This fact has
suggested an useful hint to modern practitioners.
In the preface to his Voyages, he promised other works,
as ** A Geography of Persia ;'* ** A Compendious History
of that Empire, taken from Persian Authors;*' and *^ Ob«
servations on Passages of the Holy Scripture, explained by
the manners and customs of the East," but the two former
never appeared, and the latter was discovered by a public
advertisement In 1770, sir John's descendants adver-
tised a reward of twenty guineas for this manuscript, which
they call <* A Commentary or Explanation of the Old Tes-
tament, from the manners and customs of the East, written
in French by sir J. Chardin," and which, they add, about
twenty years before, i. e. 1750, was seen by a gentleman
* Two years ago M. L. JLangles, Us, Paris. 1811; bat we find no par*
lu^eper of the l^rencb Imperial library, ticulars of Chardin's life which we
publiibed a new edition of Chardin's had not befora oollectcd.
Travels, 10 volt. 8to, wiUi a folio At-
C H A R D I N. 1«
in the possession of Dr. Oldfield. It was described to have
been a thin quarto volume, in a very small hand. But
when Mr. Harmer compiled his " Observations on divers
passages of Scripture, &c." illustrated by books of travels^
he recovered this treasure by means of sir William Mus-
grave, bart. in whose possession it was, not a single quarto
volume, but six small MS volumes, the principal part of
which Mr. Harmer incorporated in his valuable work. ^
CHARES, an ancient statuary, a native of Lindus, and
disciple of Lysippus in the seventh century, imovortalized
himself by the Colossus of the Sun at Rhodes, which has
been reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world.
This statue was of brass, and above 100 feet high; and
was placed at the entrance of the harbour at Rhodes, with
the feet upon two rocks, in such a manner, that ships could
pass in full sail betwixt them. Chares employed twelve
years upon it$ and aft'er standitig forty-six, it was thrown
down by an earthquake. Moavius, a caliph of the Sara*
cens, who invaded Rhodes in the year ^67, sold it to a
Jew merchant, who is said to have loaded 900 camels with
the materials of it. '
CHARITON, of Aphrodisium, secretary to a rhetorician
flamed Athenagoras, lived at the end of the fourth century^
if these are not fictitious names, which there is great rea«
son to think. A Greek romance, in his style, was some
years ago found, entitled ^'The Loves of Chaereas and
Cailirho^,*' an edition of which was published by M. d'Or-
vilie, professor of history at Amsterdam, 1750, 4to, with a
Latin translation and notes. A French translation appeared
At Paris, 1763, 2 vols. 8vo, and M. Pallet published a new
one, 1775, 8vo. Gesner, Fabricius, and M. Huet, had
spoken of this romance as being only known by name. It
is a very amusing composition, and the notes of D*OrvilIe
contain a treasure of critical learning. They were adopted
afterwards by Reiske in his edition of Leipsic, 1783, 8va,
and the novel was translated into English, 1763, 2 vols.
]l2mo, with a preface giving all the account that is knowa
of the author. '
* Chattfepie.— Morerl— Sir Wm. MusgravB'f Adrersaria in Brit Mu8.-^
Lysons's EnviroQii, vol. Il.«— Harmer^ Preface.— Haller Bibl. Botan.— ^$axU
Onomaatieoo. «^/
« Diet. Hist— PUn. Nat. Hist. J
* Pniacei as abore.— f adrio. Bibl. Grsec^—Saxii Onomast.— Diet. Histt
iso
Cfl A R K E.
CHARKE (Charlotte) was yopngest daughter of
CoUey Gibber the player, and afterwards poet-laureat. At
eight yeard old she was put to school, but had an ^ducatiop
more suitable to a boy than a girl ; and as she grew up»
followed the same plan, being more frequently in the stable
than in the bed-chamber, and mistress of the curry-comb^
though ignorant of the needle. Her very amusements all
took the same masculine turn ; shooting, hunting, riding
races, and digging in a garden, being ever her favourite
exercises. She also relates an act of her prowess when a
mere child, in protecting the house when in expectation of
an attack from thieves, by the firing of pistols and blunder*
busses out at the windows. All her actions seem to have
had a boyish mischievousness in them, and she sometimes
appears to have run great risque of ending them with the
most fatal consequences. This wildness, however, was put
Bome check to, by her marriage, « when very young, with
Mr. Richard Cbarke, an eminent performer on the violin^;
immediately after which she launched into the billows of
a stormy world, where she was^- through the remainder of
Iter life, buffeted about without ever once reaching n
peaceful harbour. Her husband's insatiable passion for
women soon gave her just cause of uneasiness, and in fi
$hort time appears to have occasioned a, separation.
She then applied to the stage, apparently from inclina^-
tion as well as necessity ; and opened with the little part
of Mademoiselle in the ** Provoked Wife," in which she
met with all the success she could expect. From this she
rose in her second and third attempts to the capital cha-
racters of Alicia in " Jane Shore," and Andromache in th<e
** Distressed Mother ;" in which, notwithstanding the re-
inembrance of Mrs. Porter and Mrs. Oldfield, she met with
^eat indulgence from the audience ; and being remarkable
* Br. Blimey says he was a danc-
ing-masteir, an actor, a man of hn-
Viour, and a performtr on the violin,
with a strong hand. He was leader of
the band at Drury-Iane theatre. As
a composer, he only distinguished
himself by being supposed the first
vho produced that species of musical
buffoonery called a " Medley Over-
ture," wholly made up of shreds and
patches of well-known vulgar tunes.
Sut we believe that this very easy spe-
cies of pleasantry was first suggested
by Dr. Pepusch, in the overture to the
Beggar's Opera, brought on the stage
in 1*738, and Charke's medley over-
ture bears date 1735. There is a slang
hornpipe under Charke's name, which
used to be a favourite among the tars.
We believe him to have been a face-
tious fellow, gifted with a ttfrn for low
humpur, of which, and of his . tricks
and stories, Dr. Arne, in moments of
jocularity, used to give specimcos*
Rce»*B Cyolopaadia.
C H A B K E. Ul
for reading wdl, was sufTered upon sudden emergencies to
read characters of no less iaiixurtance than thoi>e of Cleo«
patra and queen Elizabeth. She was after this ej)gaged at
a good salary and sufficient supply of very conslderaULe
parts, at the Uaymarket, and after tiiat at Drury-lane. She
novf seemed well settled, and likely to |;iave made no in-
glorious figure in ilieatrical life ; but tiiat ungovernable
impetuosity of passions, which ran through all her actions,
iDduced her to quarrel with Fleetwood, the then manager ;
whom she not only left on a sudden without any notice
given, but even vented her spleen against him in public,
by a little dramatic farce, called " The Art of Manage-
ment;" and though Fleetwood forgave that injury, and
restored her to her former station, yet she ack now i edges
that she afterwards very ungratefully left him a second
time, without any blame on bis part. >
Her adventures during the remainder of her life are no-
thing but one variegated scene of distresses, of a kind tjo
which no one can be a stranger, who has either seen ^r
read the accounts of those most wretched of all human
beings, the members of a strolling company of ^actors : we
may therefore be excused the entering into particulars. In
1755 she came to London, where she published the " Nar-
rative of her own Life ;" whether the profits of her book
enabled her to. subsist for the short remainder of it, with-
out seeking for farther adventures, is uncertain. Death,
however, put a period to it, and thereby to one continued
course of misery, April 6, 1760. "
CHARLES XII. (king of Sweden)*, was born June 27,
1682 ; and set off in the style and with the spirit of Alex-
ander the Great. His preceptor asking him, what he
thought of that hero ? " I think," says Charles, '' that I
should choose to be like him.'* Ay, but, says the tutor,
he only lived 32 years : " Oh, answered the prince, that
is long enough, when a man has conquered kingdoms.''
Impatient to reign, he caused himself to be declared ^f
age at 1 5 : and at his coronation, he snatched the crown
from the archbishop of Upsal, and put it upon his head
biiQseify with ^n air of grandeur ivhich struck the people.^
* This account obtained a place in characteristics and anecdotes, than the
the liit edition of this Dictionary, and lives of crowntd heads in general,
«• have been miwilUng to displace mi which bdoog to history, and sdldom
vticU 'tljiat contains more personal can be usefolly separated from it«
A Biog. Dram,
150 CHARLES.
Frederic IV. king of Denmark, Augustas king of Poland^
and Peter tzar of Muscovy, taking advantage of his mi*
' nority, entered into a confederacy against this youth.
Charles, aware of it, though scarce 1 8, attacked them one
after another. He hastened first to Denmark, besieged
Copenhagen, forced the Danes into their entrenchments, and
caused a declaration to be made to king Frederic, that,
** if he did not justice to the duke of Holstein, his brother-
in-law, against whom he had committed hostilities, he must
prepare to see Copenhagen destroyed, and his kingdom
laid waste by fire and sword." These menaces brought on
the treaty of Frawendal; in which, without any advan*
tages to himself, but quite content with humbling his ene-
iny, he demanded and obtained all he wished for his ally.
This war being finished in less than six weeks, in the
course of the year 1700, he marched against the Russians,
who were then besieging Narva with 100,000 men. He
attacked them with 8000, and forced them into their en-
trenchments. Thirty thousand were slain or drowned,
20,000 asked for quarter, and the rest were taken or dis-
persed. Charles permitted half the Russian soldiers to
return- without arms, and half to repass the river with their
arms. He detained none but the commanders in chief, to
whom, however, he returned their arms and their money.
Among these there was an Asiatic prince, born at the foot
of mount Caucasus, who was now to live captive amidst
the ice of Sweden; "which," says Charles, "is just the
same as if I were some time to be a prisoner among the
Crim-Tartars :" words, which the capriciousness of for-
tune caused afterwards to be recollected, when this
Swedish hero was forced to seek an asylum in Turkey. It
is to be noted, that Charles had only 1200 killed, and 800
wounded, at the battle of Narva.
The conqueror turned himself now, to be revenged upon
the king of Poland. He passed the river Duna, beat
marshal Stenau^ who disputed the passage with him, forced
the Saxons into their ports, and gained a signal victory
over them. He hastened to Courland, which surrendered
to him, passed into Lithuania, made every thing bow down
before him, and went to support the intrigues of the cardi*
pal primate of Poland, in order to deprive Augustus of the
crown. Being master of Warsovia, he pursued him, and
gained the battle of Clifsaw, though his enemy opposed
iO him prodigies of valour. He again f^U in with the
CHARLES. 15S
Saxon afmy commaDded by Stenau, besieged Thorn, and
caused Stanislaus to be elected king of Poland. The ter<-
for of bis arms carried all before them : the Russians were
easily dispersed ; Augustus, reduced to the last extremi-
ties, sued for peace; and Charles, dictating the condi-
tions of it, obliged him to renounce his kingdom^ and ac«
knowledge Stanislaus*
This peace was concluded in 1 706, aiid now he might
and ought to have been reconciled with the tzar Peter ;
but he chose to turn his arms against him, apparently with
« design to dethrone him, as be had dethroned Augustus*
Peter was aware of it, and said, that ** his brother Charles
affected to be Alexander, but would be greatly disap-
pointed if he expected to find him Darius.*' Charles left
Saxony in the autumn of 1707, with an army of 43,000
men : the Russians abandoned Grodno at his approach*
He drove them before him, passed the Boristhenes, treated
with the Cossacks^ and came to encamp upon the Dezena;
and, after several advantages, was marching to. Moscow
through the deserts of the Ukraine. But fortune aban-
doned him at Pultowa, July 1709 ; where he was beaten by"
Peter, wounded in the leg, had all his army either destroy-
ed or taken prisoners, and forced to save himself by being
carried off in a litter. And, thus reduced to seek an asy*
lum among the Turks,' he gained Otchakof, and retired to
Bender. All which replaced Augustus on the throne of
Poland, and immortalized Peter.
The grand seignor gave Charles a handsome reception^
and appointed him a guard of 400 Tartars. The king of
Sweden's view, in coming to Turkey, was to excite the
Porte against the tzar Peter : but, not succeeding either
by menaces or intrigues^ he grew in time obstinate and
restive, and even braved the grand seignor, although *he
was his prisoner. The Porte wanted much to get rid of
their guest, and at length was compelled to offer a little
violence. Charles entrenched himself in his house at
Bender, and defended himself against an army with 40
domestics^ and would not surrender ^till his house was on
fire. From Bender he was removed to Demotika, where
he gprew sulky, and was resolved to lie in bed all the time
he should be there : apd he actually did lie in bed 10
months, feigning to be sick.
Meanwhile his misfortunes increased daily. His ene«
taking advantage of his absence^ destroyed his jai^mjf
15i C H A R L E a
and took from him not only bis own eonquests, but those <rf
his predecessors. At length be left Demotika ; travelled
post, with two companions only, through Franconia and
Mecklenbourg ; and arrived on the lltfa day at Stralsund,
Nov. 22, 1714. Beset in this town^ he saved himself in
Sweden, now reduced to a most deplorable condition* But
bis misfortunes had not cooled his ps^ssion for warring : h^
attacked Norway with an army of 20,000 men : he formed
the siege of Frederickshall in Dec« 1718, where, as he was
visiting the works of his engineers by star*ltght, he was
struck upon the head with a ball, find killed upon the spoii.
His death happened on December 11.
Thus perished Charles and all his projects : for he was
meditating designs which would have changed the face of
Europe. The tzar was uniting with him to re-establiah.
Stanislaus, and dethrone Augustus. He was about to fur-
fiish shi^s to drive the house of Hanover from the throne of
England, and replace the pretender in it; and land-forces
at the $ame time to attack George I. in bis states of Han*
over, and especially in Bremen and Verden, which he bad
taken from Charles. ^^ Charles XII." says Mootesquieu,
^^ was not Alexander, but he would have been Alexaiider's
best soldier.'* H^naut observes, ^^ that Charles in his pro-
jects had no relish for the probable : to furnish giyii to bim,
success must lie beyond the bounds of probability." Doubt-
less he might be called the Quixote of the north. He car-
ried, as his historian says, all the virtues of the hero to an
excess, which made them as dangerous and pernicious as
the opposite vices. His firmness, was obstinacy, bis libe-
rality profusion, bis courage rashness, his severity cruelty :
he was in his last years less a king than a tyrant, and more
a soldier than an hero. The projects of Alexander, whom
he affected to imitate, were not only wise, but wisely exe-
cuted : whereas Charles, knowing nothing but arms, never
regulated any of his movements by policy, according to the
exigencies of the conjuncture, but suifered himself to be
borne along by a brutal courage, which often led him into
difficulties, and at length occasioned his death. He was
a singular man, rather than a great man.
As to his person, he was tall and of a noble mien, had a
fine open forehead, large blue eyes, flaxen hair, fair com-
plexion, an handsome nose, but Tittle beard, and a laugh
not agreeable. His manners were harsh and austere, not
to say savage : and, as to religion^ he was indifferent to-
CHARLES. ui
wards all^ though outwardly a Lutheran. A few anecdotes
will illustrate his character. No dangers, however greats
made the least impression upon him. When a horse or
two were killed under hioi at the battle of Narva in 1700,
ke Jeaped nimbly upon fresh ones, saying, " These people
find me exercise." One d^y, when be was dictating letters
to a secretary^, a bomb fell through the roof into the next
room of the house, where they were sitting. The secretary,
terrified lest the house should come down upon them, let
his pen drop out of his hand : ^^ What is the matter,'* sayg^
the king calmly. The secretary could only reply, " Ah,
sir, the bomb." " The bomb !" says the king ; ^' what has
the bomb to do with what I am dictating ? Go on.'*
He preserved more humanity than is usually foun4
^mong conquerors. Once, in the middle of an action,
fiading a young Swedish officer wounded and unable to
inarch, he obliged the officer to take his horse, aujd eon«-
tinued to command his infantry on foot. The princess
Lubomirski, who was very much in the interest and good
graces of Augustus, falling by accident into the hands of
one of bis officers, he ordered her to be set at liberty;
saying, " that he did not make war with women." One
day^ near Leipsic, a peasant threw himself at his feet, with
a complaint against a grenadier, that he had robbed him
of certain eatables provided for himself and his family^
" Is it true," said Charles sternly, " that you have robbed
this man ?" The soldier replied, " Sir, I have not done
near so much harm to this man, as your majesty has done
to his master : for you have taken from Augustus a king-
dom, whereas I have only taken from this poor scoundrel a
dinner." Charles made the peasant amends, and pardoned
the soldier for his firmness : " however^ my friend," says
he to him, ^^ you will do well to recollect, that, if I took a
kingdom from Augustus, I did not take it for myself."
Though Charles lived hardily himself, a soldier did not
fear to remonstrate to him against some bread, which was
very black and mouldy, and which yet was the only pro-
vision the troops had. Charles called for a piece of it, and
calmly ate it up ; saying, ^' that it was indeed not good,
but that it might be eaten." From the danger he was in
in Poland, when he beat the Saxon troops in 1702, a
comedy was exhibited at Marienburg, where the combat
was represented to the disadvantage of the Swedes, " Oh,"
^ys Charles^ hearing of it, <* I am far from envying them
156 C H A R L E T O N,
in this pleasure. Let them beat ine upon the theatres as
long as they will, provided I do but beat them in the field."'
CHARLETON (Walter), a very learned physician,
and voluminous writer, the son of the rev. Walter Charle-
, ton, M. A. some time vicar of Uminster, and afterwards
rector of Shepton pallet, in the county of Somerset^
was born at Shepton Mallet, February 2, 1619, and was
first educated by his father, a man of extensive capacity,
though but indifferently furnished with the goods of ^ for-
tune. He was afterwards sent to Oxford, and entered of
Magdalen Hall in Lent term 1635, where he became the
pupil of the famous Dr. John Wilkins, afterwards bishop
of Chester, under whom he made great progress in logic
and philosophy, and was noted for assiduous application
and extensive capacity, which encouraged him to aim at
the accomplishments^ of an universal scholar. But as hb
circumstances confined him to some particular profession,
he made choice of physic, and in a short time made as
great a progress in that as he had done in his former studies*
On the breaking out of the civil war, which brought the
king to Oxford, Mr. Charleton, by the favour of the king,
had the degree of doctor of physic conferred upon him in
February 1642, and was soon after made one of the phy-
sicians in ordinary to his majesty. These honours made
him be considered as a rising character, and exposed him
to that envy and resentment which he could never entirely
conquer. Upon the declension of the royal cause, he came
up to London, was admitted of the college of physicians,
acquired considerable practice, and lived in much esteem
with the ablest and most learned men of the profession ;
such as sir Francis Prujean, sir George Ent, Dr. William
Harvey, and others. In the space of ten years before the
Restoration, be wrote and published several very ingenious
and learned treatises, as well on physical as other subjects,
by which he gained great reputation abroad as well as at
home; and though they are now leSk regarded than per-
haps they deserve, yet they were then received with al-
most universal approbation. He became, as Wood tells
us, physician in ordinary to king Charles IL while in exile,
which honour i^e retained after the king's return ; and,
upon the founding of the royal society, was chosen one of
the first members. Among other patrons and friends were
I Modem Univ. Hist-^Life by Vqltaurei fcc ^ ^^
C H A R L E T O JJ. 151
William Cavendish, duke of Newcastle, whose life Dr.
Charleton translated into Latin in a very clear and elegant
style, and the celebrated Hobbes, but this intimacy, with /
his avowed respect for the Epicurean philosophy, drew
some suspicions upon him in regard to his religion, not«
withstanding the pains he had taken to distinguish betweea
the religious and philosophical opinions of Epicurus in his
own writings against infidelity. Few circumstances seem ^
to have drawn niore censure on him than his venturing to
differ in opinion from the celebrated Inigo Jones respecting
Stonehenge, which Jones attributed to the Romans, and
asserted to be a temple dedicated by them to the god Coe-
lus, or Coelum ; Dr. Charleton referred this antiquity to
later and more barbarous times, and transmitted Jones's *
bookf which was not published till after its author's death,
to Olaus Wormius, who wrote him several letters, tending
to fortify him in his own sentiment, by proving that this
work ought rather to be attributed to his countrymen the
Danes. With this assistance Dr. Charleton drew up a
treatise, offering many strong arguments to shew, that this
could not be a Roman temple, and several plausible rea-
sons why it ought rather to be considered as a Danish mo*
nument ; but his book, though learned, and enriched with
a great variety of curious observations, was but indifferently
received, and but coldly defended by his friends. Jones's
son-in-law answered it with intemperate warmth, and many
liberties were taken by others with Dr. Charleton's cha-
racter, although sir William Dugdale and some other emi«
Dent antiquaries owned themselves to be of our author's
opinion; but it is now supposed that both are wrong*
Notwithstanding this clamour, Dr. Charleton's fame was
advanced by his anatomical prelections in the college
theatre, in the spring of 1683, and his satisfactory defence
of the immortal Harvey's claim to the discovery of the
circulation of the blood, against the pretence that was set
up in favour of father Paul. In 1689 he was chosen pre-
sident of the college of physicians, in which ofHce he con-
tinued to the year 1691. A little after this, his circum-
stances becoming narrow, he found it necessary to seek a
retreat in the island of Jersey ; but the causes of this are not
explained, nor have we been able to discover how long he
continued in Jersey, or whether he returned afterwards to
London. All that is known with certainty is, that he died
in the latter end of 1707, and in the eighty-eighth yejir
15S G H A R L E TON.
of his age. He appears from his writings to have been a
man of extensive learning, a lover of the constitution in
church and state, and so much a lover of his country as to^
refuse a professor's chair in the university of Padua. In
his junior years he dedicated much of his time to the study
of philosophy and polite literature, was as well read in
the Greek and Roman authors as any man of his time, and
he was taught very early by his excellent tutor, bishop
Wilkins, to digesthis knowledge so as to comnaand it readily
when occasion required. In every branch of his own
profession he has left testimonies of his diligence and his
capacity ; and whoever considers the plainness and per-
spicuity of his language, the pains he has taken to collect
and produce the opinions of the old physicians, in order
to compare them with the moderns, the just remarks with
which these collections and comparisons are attended, the
succinctness with which all this is dispatched, and the
great accuracy of that method in which his books are
written, will readily agree that he was equal to most of his
contemporaries. As an antiquary, he had taken much pains
in perusing our ancient historians, and in observing their
excellencies as well as their defects. But, above all, he
was studious of connecting the sciences with each other,
and thereby rendering them severally more perfect; in
which, if he did not absolutely succeed himself, he had at
least the satisfaction of opening the way to others, of show-
ing the true road to perfection, and pointing out the
tneans of applying and making those discoveries useful,
which have followed in succeeding times. There i3 also
good reason to believe, that though we have few or none
of his writings extant that were composed during the last
twenty years of his life, yet he was not idle during that
space, but committed many things to paper, as rfiaterials
at least for other works that he designed. There is now a
large collection of his MS papers and letters on subjects of
philosophy and natural history in the British Museum.
(Ayscough's Catalogue.) His printed works are, 1 . " Spiritus
Gorgonicus vi suS, saxipar^ exutus, sive de causis, signis,
et sanatione Lithiaseos," Leyden, 1650, 8vo. This book
is usually called De Lithiasi Diatriba. 2. " The darkness
of Atheism discovered by the light of nature, a physico-
theological treatise," London, 1651, 4to. 3. "TheEphe-
sian and Cimmerian Matrons, two remarkable examples of
the power of Love and Wit," Loudon, 1653 and 1658, 8vo.
C H A R L E T O N. 159
4, *' Physiologia Epicuro-Gassendo-Cbarletoniana : or a
fabric of natural science erected upon the most ancient
hypothesis of atoms," London, 1654, in foi. 5. " The Im-
mortality of the human Soul demonstrated by reasons na*
tural," London, 1657, 4to. 6. " Oeconomia Animalis no-
vis Aiiatomicorura inventis, indeque desumptis moderno-
ram Medicorum Hypothesibus Physicis superstructa et
mechanice explicata,'* London, 1658, 12mo; Amsterdam,
i659f 12mo; Leyden, 1678, I2mo; Hague, 1681, 12mo.
It is likewise added to the last edition of " Gulielmi Cole
desecretione animali cogitata.*' 7. *' Natural history of
nutrition, life, and vohintary motion, containing all the
new discoveries of anatomists," &c. London, 1658, 4to,
8. " Exercitationes Physico-Anatomicse de OeconomiS, Ani-
mali," London, 1659, 8vo ; printed afterwards several
times abroad. 9. " Exercitationes Pathologicae, in quibus
morborum pene omnium natura, generatio, et causae ex
novis Anatomicorum inventis sedulo inquiruntur," London,
1660, and 1661, 4to. 10. ** Character of his most sacred
Majesty Charles II. King of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland," London, 1660, one sheet, 4to. 1 1 . " Disquisi-
tiones duae Anatomico-Physicse ; altera Anatome pueri de
calo tacti, altera de Proprietatibus Cerebri humani," Lon-
don, 1664, 8vo. 12. ** Chorea Gigantum, or the most
famous antiquity of Great Britain, vulgarly called Stone-
henge, standing on Salisbury Plain, restored to the Danes,"
London, 1663, 4to. 13. " Onomasticon Zoicon, plero-
rumque animalium difFerentias et nortina propria pluribus
linguis exponens. Cui accedunt Mantissa Anatomice, et
quaedam de variis Fossilium generibus," London, 1668 and
1671, 4to; Oxon. 1677, foi. 14. « Two Philosophical
Discourses ; the first concerning the different wits of men ;
the second concerning the mystery of Vintners, or a dis-
course of the various sicknesses of wines, and their re-
spective remedies at this day commonly used, &c. Lon-
don, 1668, 1675, 1692, 8vo. 15. " De Scorbuto Liber
singuiaris. Cui accessit Epiphonema in Medicastros,"
London, 1671, 8vo; Leyden, 1672, 12mo. 16. "Natural
History of the Passions," London, 1674, 8vo. 17. "En-
quiries into Humane Nature, in six Anatomy-prelections in
the new theatre of the royal college of physicians in Lon-
don," London, 1680, 4to. 18." Oratio Anniversaria ha-
bita inTheatro inciyti Collegii Medicorum Londinensis 5to
August! 1680, in commemorationem Beneficiorum a Doc-
160 C H A R L 6 T O M/
tore Haryey aliisque prsstitorum/' Londaif, 1680, 4M^
19. " The harmony of natural and positive i)ivine Laws,**
London, 1682, 8vo. 20. ** Three Anatomic Lectures con*
ceming, l.The motion of the blood through the veins and
arteries. 2. The organic structure of the heart 3. The
efficient cause of the hearths pulsation, liead in the 1 9tb,
20th, and 21st day of March 1682^ in the anatomic theatre
of his majesty's royal college of Physicians in London,'*
London^ 1683, 4to. 21. *' luquisitio Pbysica de causis
Catameniorum, et Uteri Rheumatismo, in quo probatur
sanguinem in animali fermentescere nunquam,*' London,
1685, 8vo. 22. *^ Qulielmi Ducis Novicastrensis vita,"
London, 1668, fol. This is a translation from the English
original written by Margaret, the second wife of William
duke of Newcastle. 23. " A Ternary of Paradoxes, of the
magnetic cure of wounds, nativity of tartar in wine, and
image of God in man," London, 1650, 4to.. 24. ** The
errors of physicians concerning Defluxions called Delira-
menta Catarrhi,'' London, 1650, 4to, both translations froia
Van Helmont. 25. " Epicurus his Morals,'* London, 1655,
4to. This work of his is divided into thirty-one chapters,
and in these he fully treats all the principles of the Epi*
curean philosophy, digested under their proper heads ;
tending to prove, that^ considering the state of the hea-
then world, the morals of Epicurus were as good as any, as
in a former work he had shewn that his philosophic opi-
nions were the best of any, or at least capable of being
explained in such a manner as that they might become so
in the hands of a modern philosopher. This work was
trapslated into several modern languages. 26. ^< The Life
of Marcellus," translated from Plutarch, and printed in the
second volume of ^ Plutarch's Lives translated from the
Greek by several hands," London, 1684, 8vo. *
CHARLEVAL (Charles, or as in the Diet Hist John
Lewis Faucon de Ris, lord of), was born in 1613, with a
very delicate body, and a mind of the same quality. He
was passionately fond of polite literature, and gained the
love of all that cultivated it. His conversation was mingled
with the gentleness and ingenuity that are apparent in
his writings. Scarron, who was ludicrous even in his
praises, speaking of the delicacy of his genius and taste,
said, ^^ that the muses had fed him upon blanc-mange and
» Biog. Brit— Ath, Ox, ▼ol. 11.
CHARLEVAL. 161
chicken broth.^* His benevolence was active and muni-*
ficeat. Having learnt that M. and madame Dacier ware
about to leave Paris, in order to live more at their ease in
the country, he offered them ten thousand francs in gold^
and insisted on their acceptance of it. Notwithstanding
the feebleness of his constitution, by strictly adhering to
the regimen prescribed him by the faculty, he spun out
his life to the age of eighty. The frequent use of rhubarb
heated him so much^ that it brought on a fever, which the
physicians thought of curing by copious bleeding, and one
of them said to the rest : *' There, the fever is now going
off." " I tell you,'* replied Thevenot, the king's librarian^
who hap(>ened to be present, ^^ it is the patient that is
going off;" and Charleval died in an hour or two after,
in 1B93. His poetical pieces fell into the hands of the
president de Ris, his nephew, who never would consent to
publish them. A small collection, however, was printed in
1759, 12mo; but they have scarcely supported their ori-
ginal reputation, although in France several of his epi-
grams are yet frequently quoted in all companies. The
conversation of the marechai d'Horquincourt and father
Canaye, printed in the works of St. Evremond, a piece
full of originality and humour, is the composition of Char-
leval, excepting the little dissertation 6n Jansenism and
Molinism, which St.- Evremond subjoined. to it; but it falls
&r short of the ingenuity of the rest of the work, y
CHARLEVOIX (Peter Francis Xavier de), a learned
and industrious French Jesuit, was born at St. Quintin in
1684, and died m 1761, aged 78. His fame rests chiefly
on the histories of his travels, which were extensive, ^nd
his accounts, although diffuse, are in general reckoned
very good authority. They consist of: l. " Histoire et
description g^u^rale du Japon,^^ 1738, 2 vols. 4to; and
1754, 6 vols. 12avo. 2. " Histoire de I'lsle de St. Domi-
nique,'* 1720, 2 vols. 4to. 3. " Histoire g6n6rale de la
Nouvelle France," 1744, 3 vols. 4to, and 6 vols, 12mo.
4. ^^ Histoire g^n^rale du Paraguay," 1756, 6 vols. 12mo>
and 3 vols. 4to. From these were translated into English,
the ''Journal of a Voyage to North America," 1760, 2
vols, 8vo, abridged afterwards under the title of '^ Letters
to the duchess of Lesdiguieres, giving an account of &
Toy^ge to Canada/' &.c. 1763, Svo; and '' The History of
^ aior?ri.— IMiQt. Hift* -
Vol. IX- M
162 CHARLEVOIX
Paraguay," 1769, 2 vols. 8vo. Charlevoix also published in
1724, " Vie de Mere Marie de rincarnation," 12mo; and
he was for tweuty-four years employed on the ^^ Journal
de Trevouxy" which he enriched with many valuable arti«-
cles. *
CHARLIER, John. See GERSON.
CHARLTON, Walter. See CHARLETON.
CHARNOCK (John), esq. F. S. A. an ingenious but
unfortunate writer, was born Nov. 28, 1756, the only son
of John Cbarnock, esq. a native of the island of Barbadoes,
and formerly an advocate of eminence at the English bar^
by Frances, daughter of Thomas Boothby, of Chingford
in Essex, esq. About 1767 he was placed at the rev.
Reynell Cotton's school at Winchester, and went from
thence to the college, where, in the station of a commoner^
he was under the immediate care of the celebrated Dn
Joseph Warton, the head master, in whose house h%
boarded, and became the peculiar favourite of that eminent
tutor. Having attained to the seniority of the school, and
gained the prize medal annually given for elocution, he
removed from Winchester to Oxford, and was, in 1774^
entered a gentleman-commoner of Merton college. Here
he soon discovered his passion for literary composition, in
a multiplicity of fugitive pieces on various subjects, which
appeared in the periodical papers ; many of them, how«
ever, were not of a kind likely to confer permanent repu««
tation, being invectives against the American war, written
in a vehement spirit of opposition, under the^signatures of
Casca, Squib, or Justice.
He left the university to return to a domestic life totally
nnsuited to the activity both of body and mind for whicti
be was remarkable, but which, amidst some family differ-^
ences, be contrived to employ on the study of naval and
military tactics ; and with no other asstsitance than that of
bis mathematical knowledge, aided by a few books, be
made a very considerable proficieiicy. The noble coUeo*^
tion of drawings which he left, executed during thai short
period solely by his own hand, would alone furnish an am<^
pie proof of his knowledge of these subjects, and of tb^
indefatigable 2eal with which he pursued them. He novir
became anxious to put into practice wh&t he bad learnt^
and earnestly pressed for permission to embrace the navat
1 Diet. Hftt
G H A R N 0 G K. 168
€t military profession; He was at this titne sole heir to 't
Fery considerable fortune, and the darling of his parents^
bat derived none of the advantages which usually folloiilr
these circaoistances* His request being denied, be entered
a volunteer into the naval service, and very soon attained
that proficiency of which' his publications on the subject
will be lasiing monuments. A sense of duty afterwards
withdrew htm again into private life ; but his mind had re^
ceived a wound iil the disappointment| and other circum<^
stances, which, his biographer says, it would be indelicate
to particularize, contributed to keep it open. By the un«
kindness of those to whom he had most reason to lool:
up, and partly by his own imprudence, he was obliged
to have recourse to his pen for support, and although he
employed it with talent and industry, it did not yield faim
the due recompence of bis labours, nor the necessary sup«-
pUes for his own maintenance and that of a beloved wife.
Hence he became etnbarrassed in his circumstances, and
the sourc^es ftt>m which he had the fairest right to expect
relief being unaccountably closed against him, he wa^ suf^
fered to linger out the remainder of life in the prison of
the King's- Bench, in which he died May 16, 1807. His
funeral desierves to be recorded. It was not that of an
insolvent debtor. To the surprise of all who knew his tne*-
lancholy history, be was interred with great ceremony and
expence at Lea, near Blackheath, in the same grave whicfa^
within two years after, received his father and mother.
His works, besides many smaller pieces^ were, I . *^ The
Rights of a Free People,*^ 1792, 8vo, an irony on the de^-
Biocracy of that period. 2. ^' Biograpfaia Navalis/' 1794,
&c. 6 Tols. 8vo. 3* '< A Letter on Finance and on Na-
tional Defence^** 1798. 4. " A History of Marine Archi«-
tecture," 3 vols. 4to. 5. ^ A Life of Lord Nelson,'? 1800.
His ^* Biographia Navalis" is a truly valuable work, and
supplies those deficiencies in the previous liaval biographies
of Cfunpbell and Berkenhout, over whom Mr. Chamock
had the superior advantage of professional knowledge.
After bis death was printed, " Loyalty ; or Invasion de*-
feated,'' 1810, an historical tragedy. ^
CHARNOGK (Stephen), son of Richard Charnock aa
attonieyy descended froin an andent family of that name
ixk Laocasbirei was bom in LonSon in 1628, and educated
* Ceatura Literaria, vol. V.*<»BMg. Onirn
M 2
164 C H A R N O C K.
£rst in Emanuel college in Cambridge, from whence he
removed to New college, Oxford, in 1649, and obtained a
fellowship by the parliamentarian interest. AJfterwards he
went into Ireland, where he preached, and was much ^A*
mired by the presbyterians and independents. Upon the
restoration of king Charles II. he refused to conform, but
returned into England, and lived mostly in London, where
adhering to the principles of the nonconformists, he
preached in private meetings, and had the reputation of a
man of good parts, learning, and elocution. He died in
July 27, 1680. He printed only a single sermon in his
life-time, which is in the <' Morning Exercise ;*' but after
his death, two folio volumes from his manuscripts were
published in 1683, and still bear a high price. Wood says
that diose who differed from him in opinion, admired his
extensive learning, into which he was first initiated at
Emanuel college, Cambridge, by his tutor, Dr. Sancroft^
afterwards archbishop of Canterbury* ^
CHARPENTIER (Francis), dean of the French acade-
my, was born at Paris, Feb. 1620. His early discovery of
great acuteness made his friends design him for the bar :
but his taste led him to prefer the repose and stillness of
the closet, and he became more delighted with languages
and antiquity, than with the study of the law. He was
made a member of the French academy in 1651, and had
the advantage of the best conversation for his improvement.
When Colbert became minister of state, he projected the
setting up a French East-India compatiy ; and to recom-
mend the design more effectually, he thought it proper
diat a discourse should be published upon this subject.
Accordingly he ordered Charpentier to draw one up, and
was so pleased with his performance, published in 1664^
that he kept him in his family, with a design to place him
in another academy which was then founding, and which
was afterwards known by the name of ** Inscriptions and
Medals.'* The learned languages, in which Charpentier
was a considerable master, his great knowledge of anti-
quity, and his exact and critical judgment, made him
very serviceable in carrying on the business of this new-
academy ; and it is agreed on all hands, that no person of
that learned society contributed more thati himself towards
that noble series of medals, which were struck of the mosl
1 Ath. Ox; ToL II,— Calamy.— Fuiera! Senaon by Johnion.
C H A R P E.N TIER. 165
Gonfiiderable events that happened in the reign of Lewis
XIV. but his adulation of the king exceeded that of all
bis contemporaries.
He died April 22, 1702, aged 82. His harangues and
discourses, delivered before the academy, or when he was
chosen to make a speech to the king, are extant in the
collections of the academy. As to the character of his
works, it may be said in general, that wit and learning
are every where visible; but although we meet with some
high flights of eloquence, and masterly strokes of compo-
sition, bis taste has not been thought equal to his learning.
]9is principal works are, ^^ La Vie de Socrate,*' 1650, l2mo.
A translation of the " Cyropajdia," 1659, 12mo. *' Dis-
^ours touchant PEtablissement d'une Compagnie Frangoise
pour le Como^erce des Indes Orientales,'' 4to. *^ De I'ex*
cellence de la Langue Fran^oise,*' 1683, 2 vols. 12ma
*^ Carpentariana," 12mo, &c. in which there are some
amusing anecdotes, but they are not esteemed the best of
the Ana. ^
CH AKRON (Peter), was bom at Paris in 1 541. Though
Iiis parents were in narrow circumstances, yet discovering
their son's capacity, they were particularly attentive to bis
education. After making a considerable proficiency in
grammar-learning, he applied to logic, metaphysics, moral
and natural philosophy, and afterwards studied civil and
common law at the universities of Orleans and Bourges,
and commenced doctor in that faculty. Upon his return
to Paris, he was admitted an advocate in the court of par-
liament. He always declared the bar to be the best and
most improving school in the world ; and accordingly at*
tended at all the public hearings for five or six y^ars : but
foreseeing that preferment in this way, if ever attained at
adl, was like to come very slow, as he had neither private
interest, nor relations among the solicitors and proctors of
the court, he gave over that employment, and closely ap-
plied to the study of divinity. By his superior pulpit
eloquence, he soon came into high reputation with the
greatest and most learned men of his time, insomuch that
the bishops seemed to strive which of them should get him
into his diocese; making him an offer of being theological
c^.non or divinity lecturer in their churches, and of other
digaities and benefices^ besides giving him noble presents^
* Moreri.— G«ii. Dlct,*«»Dict Hift,
166 C H A R R O N.
He was successirely th^ologal of Bazas, Aqcs, Letfaour#^'
Agen, Cahors, and Condom^ canon and schoolmaster in
the church of Bourdeaux, and chanter in the charch .of
Condom. Queen Margaret, duchess of Bulois, enter-
tained him for her preacher in ordinary; and the king,
though at that time a protestant, frequently did him the
bonour to be one of his audience. He was also retained
by the cardinal d^Armagnac, the pope's legate at Avignon,
who had a great value for him ; yet amidst all these pro-*
motions, he never took any degree or title in divinity, but
satisfied himself with deserving and being capable of the
highest. After about eighteen years absence from Paris^
be resolved to end his days there; and being a lover of
retirement, vowed to become a Carthusian. On his arrival
at Paris, he communicated his intention to the prior of the
order, bat was rejected, notwithstanding his most pressing
entsreaties. They told him that he could not be received
on account of bis age, then about forty-eight, and that the
order required all the vigour of youth to support its auste-
rities. He next addressed himself to the Celestines at
Paris, but with the same success, and for the same reasons v
io this embarrassment, he was assured by three learned
casuists, that as he was no ways accessary tb the non-per-
formance of his vow, it was no longer binding ; and that
he might, with a very safe conscience, continue in the
"world as a secular. He preached, however, a course of
Lent sermons at Angers in 1589. Going afterwards to
Bourdeaux, he contracted a very intimate friendship with
Michael de Montagne, author of the well known Essays^
from whom he received all possible testimonies of regard ;
for, among other things, Montagne ordered by his last
will, that in case he should leave no issue-male of his own,
M. Charron should, after his decease, be entitled to bear
the coat of arms plain, as they belonged to his noble
family, iand Charron, in return, made Montague's brother-
in-law his residuary legatee. He staid at Bourdeaux from
1589 to 1593; and in that interval composed his book,
entitled, <* Les Trois Veritas," which he published in
1594. These three truths are the following : 1 . That there
is a God and a true religion : 2. That of all religions the
Christian is the only true one : 3. That of all the Christian
communions the Roman catholic is the only true church.
This work procured him the acquaintance of M. de Sulpice,
bisbop and count of Cahors, who sent for him and offered
C H A R R O Ni 16T
bun the places of his vicar-general and canon theological
i;i his church, which he accepted. He was deputed to
the geueral assembly of the clergy in 1595, and was chosea
first secretary to the assembly. In 1599 he returned to
Cahorar; and in that and the following year composed eight
discourses upon the sagrament of the Lord's supper ; and
others upon the knowledge and providence of God, the
redemption of the worlds the communion of saints, and
hkewise his " books of Wisdom." Whilst he was thus
employed, the bishop of Condom, to draw him into his
diocese, presented him with the chaptership in his church;
and the theologal chair falling vacant about the same time,
made him an offer of that too, which Charron acceptedi
and resolved to settle there* In 1601 he printed at Bour-
deaux his books ^^^ of Wisdom," which gave him a great
reputation, and made his character generally known*
October 1 603, he made a journey to Paris, to thank the
bishop of Boulogne ; who, in order to have him near him-
self, had offered him the place of theologal canon. This
he was disposed to accept of; but the moisture and cold-
nests of the air at Boulogne, and its nearness to the sea,
not only made it, be said to a friend, a melancholy and
unpleasant place, but very unwholesome too ; adding, that
the sun was his visible god, as God was his invisible sun*
At Parii^ he began a new edition of bis books ^^ of Wisdom,*'
of which he lived to see but three or four sheets printed,
dying Nov. 16, 1603, of an apoplexy. The impression of
the new edition of his book << of Wisdom," with alterations
by the author, occasioned by the offence taken at some
passages in the former, was completed in 1604, by the
care of a friend ; but as the Bourdeaux edition contained
some things that were either suppressed or softened in the
subsequent one,, it was much sought after by the curious.
Hence the booksellers of several cities reprinted the book
after that edition ; and this induced a Paris bookseller to
print an edition, to which he subjoined all the passages of
the first edition which had been struck out or corrected,
and all those which the president Jeannin, who was em-
ployed by the chancellor to examine the book, judged
necessary to be changed. This edition appeared in 1707.
There have been two translations of it into Engliish, the
last by George Stanhope, D. D. printed in 1697. Dr.
;Stanhope says, that M. Charron " was a person that feared
God, led a pious and good life, was charitably disposed,
16S C H A R R O N.
a person of wisdom and conduct, serious and considerate;
a great philosopher, an eloquent orator, a famous and
powerful preacher", richly furnished and adorned with the
most excellent virtues and graces both moral and divine ;
such as made him very remarkable and singular,, and de«
servedly gave him the character of a good man and a good
Christian ; such as preserve a great honour and esteem for
his memory among persons of worth and virtue, and will
continue to do so as long as the world shall last." From
this high praise considerable deductions may surely be
made. Cbarron^s fame has scarcely outlived his century.;
bis book on *^ Wisdom" certainly abounds in ingenious,
and original observations on moral topics, but gives a
gloomy picture of human nature and society. Neither is
it free from sentiments very hostile to revealed religion^
but so artfully disguised as to impose on so orthodoic a di-*
vine as dean Stanhope. '
CHARTIER (Alain), a native of Bayeux, one of the
first French writers who aspired to elegance, flourished
about 1430. He was secretary to tbe kings Charles VI.
and VI I. and employed in several embassies. His compo*
sitions in prose excelled those that were poetical, and he
spoke as well as he wrote, so that he was esteemed the fa^
tber of French eloquence. The following curious anec-
dote relating to him is recorded : Margaret of Scotland,
first wife to the dauphin, afterwards Lewis XI. as she
passed through the Louvre, observed Alain asleep, and
went and kissed him. When her attendants expressed
their surprize that she should thus distinguish a man re<»
markable for his ugliness, she replied, *^ I do not kiss the
man, but the mouth that has uttered so many charming
things.'' His works were published by the elder Du
Chesne, in 1617, 4to; the first part consisting of bis
works in prose, viz. the " Curial;" a " Treatise on Hope ;*'
the *^ Luadrilogus Invectif,'' against Edward HI. ; and
others, partly spurious ; and the second part containing
bis poems, which are for the most part obscure and te*
dious. Alain Chartier died at Avignon in 1449. We find
much difference in the bic^^phers of Chartier, some as*
cribing to him the " Chroniques de St. Denys," Paris, 149S,
3 vols. fol. and others to his brother John ; and the ^^ History
of Oharles VIL" likewise attributed to him,, is given by Du
J Gen. Diet.— Morerii— Brucker.— >Dtct Hist
C H A R T I E R. 169
Chesne to Berri, first herald to Charles VIL and by Moreri
toGiiles de Bouvier. *
CHARTIER (Rene'), a native of Vendome, studied me-
dicine at Paris, where he took his doctor's degree in 1 608,
and was afterwards professor of surgery, and physician to
the king. He is principally known as the editor of a very
splendid edition of the works of Hippocrates and Galen,
on which he expended all his fortune. It was printed in
13 vols. foL usually bound in nine, the dates of which ap«
pear to be from 163£r to 1649, and that of the supple-
mentary volumes about 1672. We have no account of
bis death, but he appears to have died before 1639.'
CHASLE8 (Gregory de), who was born August 17,
1659, at Paris, studied at the college de la Marche, and
there became acquainted with M. de Seigneley, who pro-
cured him an employment in the marine. The greatest
part of his life passed in voyages to the Levant, Canada,
and the East Indies. In Canada he was taken prisoner
by the English ; he was also a prisoner in Turkey. Charles
was gay, sprightly, and loved good cheer, but yet satiri-
cal, particularly against the monks, and the constitution.
He was banished from Paris to Chartres, for some of these
liberties^ where be was living in a sordid manner, in 1719
or 1720. He wrote " Les Illustres Francoises,** 3 vols.
12mo, containing seven histories, to which two others are
added in the edition of Utrecht, 1737, 4 vols. '12mo, and
of Paris, 4 vols. ; but these two are much inferior to the
rest. ** Journal d'un Voyage fait aux Indes Orientales sur
Tescadre de M. du Quesne en 1690 et 1691,** Rouen,
1721, 3 vols. 12mo; and a sixth volume of Don Qui Kote.
Though Chasles was an advocate,' the *^ Diet, de Justice,
Police, et Finances," written by Francis James Chasles,
172ii, 3 vols. fol. must not be ascribed to him.'
CHA8SENEUZ (Bartholomew), was born at Issy-
TEvgque, in Burgundy, 1480. He held the office of king*s
advocate at Antun till 1522, when Francis I. appointed him
counsellor to the parliament of Paris, then president of
that of Provence. Chasseneuz was in the latter office
when that court gave sentence against the inhabitants of
Cabrieres and Merindol. . He prevented the execution of
it during his life, and died 1542, leaving several works:
* Gen. Diet.— Moreri. — Diet. Hist
• Moreri.— Halier Bibl. Med.— Saxii Onoowit. » Diet Hitt
170 C H A S S E N E U Z.
lUQong th^ rest, n *^ Cpoameotaiy on the Cufttpm of Eur*
gundy/' of which there were five editions in his life-time»
and above fiffceea'since. The last edition is by the pre-
sident Boubier, 1717, 4to, new modelled in that which he
has since published in 2 vols. fol. ^
CHASTELAIN (Claude), canon of the cathedral
church of Paris, his native place, where he was born iii
16^9, possessed a very superior degree of knowledge in
the liturgies, rites, and ceremonies of the church ;> and had
fpr that purpose travelled over Italy, France, and Ger-
Qaany ; studying every where the particular customs of
each separate church. He died 1712, aged seventy-three^
leaving a <* Universal Martyrology," Paris, 1709, 4tQ, and
the '^ Life of St Chaumont,'' 1697, 12mo. He also pub^
lished the ^^ Hagiographical Dictionary," which was in-»
serted by Menage in his etymologies of the French tongue^
with great praise of the author, as one whose merit was
not duly estimated by the age he lived in.*
CHASTELAIN (George, or Castellanus), a Flemish
gentleman, who was educated at the court of the dukes of
Burgundy, and esteemed as one of those by whom thtt
French language was at that time best understood. John
Molinet was his pupil. He died 1475, leaving in French
verse, an account of all the extraordinary things .which
happened in his time, 1531, 4to ; and at the end of the
Legend of lairfeu, 1723, 8vo^ *' Le Chevalier d^lib6r«»
ou la Mort du Due de Bourgogne devant Nanci,'' 1489,
4to. Sqme attribute this work to Oliver de la Marche.
" Hist, du Chevalier Jaques de Lalain," Antwerp, 1634,
4to; " Les Epitaphes d' Hector et d'Achille," 1525, 8vo.*
CHASTELET (Gabriel Emilia de Breteuil, Mar-
chioness), descended of a very apcieht family of Picardy,
was born December 1 7, 1706. Among the women of. her
nation who have rendered themselves illustrious, she is
certainly entitled to the first rank. Before her, many of
them had acquired reputation by agreeable romances^
and by poetical pieces, in which there appeared the graces
of wit, and the charms of sentiment. Several ako, by
applying themselves to the study of languages, by making
their beauties. to pass into their own, and by enriching
their versions with valuable commentaries, had deserved
' Diet. Hist.— Moreri. — Niceron. * 'Moreri. — Diet. Hist
3 L*Avocat.-*Dict. Hist. — Moreri in Cbatelain.
C H.A S T E L E T. 171
Weil of the republic of letters. By composing W6rks on
subjects wbiob unfold themselves only to men of rare ge-
BUiSy Mhb has classed herself, in the opinion of her country'-^
men, with the greatest philosophers, and may be said to
bare rivalled Leibnitz and Newton. From her early youth
ihe read the be^t authors, without the medium of a |rans->
Ration: Tasso, Milton, and Virgil were alike familiar to
her ; aad her ear was particularly sensible to the melody
of verse. She was endowed with great eloquence, but not
of that sort which consists only in displaying wit or ac-*
quirements ; precision was the character of ber's. She
would rather have written with the solidity of Pascal than
with the charmaof S^vigne. She loved abstract^ sciences,
9tudied mathematics deeply, and published an explana-<
tion of the philosophy of Leibnitz, under the title of '< In-»
stitutions de Physique," in 8vo, addrei^sed to her sqn^
the preliminary discourse to which is said to be a model of
reason and eloquence. Afterwards she published a treatise
on ^* The Nature of Fire." To know common geometry ,
did not satisfy her« She was so well skilled in the philo-*
sopby of Newton, that she translated his works, and en^
ricbed tbem by a commentary, in 4 vols. 4to ; its title itf
** Principes Mathematiques de la Philosophe Naturelle*'*
This work, which cgst her infinite labour, is supposed to
have hastened her death, which took place in 1749. With
sill her talents and personal qualifications, however, it is ge«<
DM^Uy admitted that she had no pretensions to chastity.*
CHASTELLUX (Francis John, Marquis de), a marshal
in the French army, and a member of the French academy,
and of many other literary societies, was born in 1734, of
a distinguished family. His military talents raised him to
the rank of brigadier-general, and he is said to'have served
in that capacity with great reputation in America. Of his
military, however, we know less than of his literary ca-
reer, which he pursued amidst all his public employments.
He bad early in life a strong passion for poetry and piusic*
Many of bils comedies, written for private theatres, and
heard with transport, might have been equally successful
on the public stages, bad he had courage sufficient to make
the experiment. He was an officer in the French guards
ifi 1765, when he published his ingenious ** Eissay oti the
I^nion of Poetry and Music.'* This essay was th^ conse-
1 Diet Hist.
172 CHASTELLUX.
quence of a voyage into Italy, where be, seems to have
adopted an exclusive taste for the dramatic music of that
country, as Rousseau had done before. He even adopts
some of Rousseau^s ideas upon music ; but in general he
tliinks for himself, both deeply and.originally. By his re-
flections on the musical drama, he not only offended the
musicians of France, but the lyric poets of every country ;
not scrupling to assert that in an opera, music, which ought
to be the principal consideration, had been too long a slave
to syllables ; for since the cultivation of the melo-drama,
it was found thajt music had its own language, its tropes,
'metaphors, colouring, movements, passions, and expres-«
sion of sentiment. This little tract, for it was but. a
pamphlet of 90 or 100 pages, 12mo, gave birth to along
controversy in France, in which, the author was supported
by the abb^ Arnaud, M. D'Alembert, the abb^ Morellet,
and M. Marmontel. His chief antagonist was the author
of a " Treatise on the Melo- Drama," who, loving poetry
better than music, wished to reduce the opera to a mere
recitative or musical declamation. During the subsequent
feuds between the Gluckists and Piccinists, the opponents
of the marquis de Chastellux enlisted with the former, and
his friends with the latter of these sects.
The next work which the marquis wrote, was his essay
^^ De la felicity publique," published at Amsterdam, with-
out his name, which was given to the English public in a
translation entitled " An Essay on Public Happiness, in;-
vestigating the state of human nature, under each of its par-
ticular appearances, through the several periods of history
to the present times," London, 2 vols. 8vo. While the
marquis was engaged on this work he frequently shifted
his abode, and was also obliged to attend his regiment (that
of Guienne) during four months of the year : at these times
be could only have recourse to such books as were at hand^
many of which were translations, and but a small number
originals ; yet, notwithstanding these disadvantages, h^
has brought together a great variety of historical informa-*
tion, accompanied with many useful, and some fanciful
observations. Viewing the then placid state of socie^ in
his own and neighbouring countries, he was deceived bjr
his love of peace and happiness, into a kind of precUotioii
that wars would be no more so frequent, or produce such
great calamities, as they had in ages past ! The traosla-
C H A S T.E L L U X. 175
ttoD, we have heard, was by J. Kent, esq. a country gen-
tleman.
We have already noticed that the marquis served in
America, under Rochambeau, during the war with Great
Britain. This produced his ** Voyage dans I'Amerique,'*
wliich was immediately translated into English, under the
title ** Travels in North- America, in the years 1780, 1781,
1782,** 1787, 2 vols. 8vo. In this work, which is rather
to be read as amusing than relied on as authentic, there is
much of that enthusiasm for theoretic liberty and happiness
which pervades the marquis's former work ; but his want
of impartiality did not escape even his own countrymen.
Brissot de Warville wrote an " Examen Critique'* of the
travels, in which he convicted the writer of great partiality,
as well as of unjust representations of events ; and the
same charges were brought against him by an anonymous
writer in our own country, who, after the appearance of
the translation, pubUshed ^* Remarks on the Travels, &c.^
1787, 8vo. The only other publication of the marquis's
pen, was ** Notice sur la vie et les ecrits d'Helvetius,'*
printed with his poem ^^ Du Bonheur." We give this on
the authority of the Diet. Hist, but it has been attributed
to Duclos, to Saurin, and to the baron Holbach. The
marquis de Chastellux died suddenly at Paris, Oct 24^
1788. *
CHATEL (Peter du), in Latin Castellanus, a very
learned French prelate, is said by some to have been of
obscure birth, but his biographer Galland makes^ him of
an ancient family, and the son of a brave knight. Yet this
is doubtful, if what he. said to king Francis I. be more than
a witticism. The king once asked him if he was a gentle-
man ; to which Chatel answered *^ that there were three
in the ark, but he did not really know from which of them
he descended." He was, however, bom at Arc, in Bur*
gundy, and in the eleventh year of his age, before which
his parents died, he was sent to Dijon, for education,
where he made an astonishing progress, and before he had
been there six years, w^s appointed a teacher, in which
capacity he soon distinguished himself; and on one occa*-
tion made a public display of more than grammatical
talents. His master, Peter Turreau, was accused of being
' ^ Diet. Hiftt. — Bifay on Pbblie Happiness^ notes to' vol. I«*^Biirae7's M«»
ao9k9 of Metas tasio> toI. U. p. 3S9.
174 C H A T E Ia
an astrologer, and Cfaatel pleaded his cause so i^bly tbit
he was acquitted. He afterwards travelled, in order 4o
cultivate the acquaintance of the learned men of his time,
and particularly of Erasmus, whom he met at Basil, and
who conceived such a high opinion of his learning, as to
recommend him to Frobenius, to be corrector of the Greek
and Latin authors, printed at his celebrated press. While
here he had also an opportunity of correcting some of
^rasmus^s works ; but they left Basil together, when the
popish religion was established there. Erasmus retired to
Fribourg, and Chatel returned to France, where be ac^
cepted the offer made him by some persons of distinction^
to be tutor to certain young men who were to study law at
Bourges, under the celebrated Alciat. As they were not
yet prepared to depart, he read public lectures on the
Greek text of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans ; and un*
fortunately for his reputation, was entrapped into an in*
trigue with a young woman, a circumstance on which
Bayle expatiates with his usual delight in what is indeli^
cate* Chatei's scholars, however, being at length ready^
he accompanied them to Bourges, and studied law, filling
pp his leisure hours with topics of polite literature. Hii
diligence was unremitting, as he slept scarcely three hours
in the night, and the moment he waked ran with eagerness
to his books. This method of study he preserved, even afw
terwards, when appointed reader to the king.
Having an inclination to visit Italy, the bishop of
Auxerre, who was going there in a diplomatic charactei^
took him with him, but at Rome he found little enjoyment
except in contemplating the remains of antiquity. Thd
corruption of morals at the court of Rome appeared se
atrocious in his eyes, that for many years afterwards he
^ould not speak on the subject without indignation, and
appears indeed to have conceived as bad an opinion of thd
court of Rome as any of the reformers, and expressed
himself with as much severity. From Rome he went to
Venice, and was induced to accept the office of teaching
polite literature in the island of Cyprus, with a pension ei
two hundred crowns, and there he read lectures for two
years with great success. He afterwards went into Eg}^t^
Jerusalem, and Constantinople, and on his retarn hoaie^
the French ambassador at the Porte gave him letters of
strong recosnxiendation to Francis I. who appointed hi^
his reader, and entertained him with the utmost famili&dty.'
C H A T E L. 175
<
Chatel avaited himself of this favour to procure advantages
to learning and learned men ; but although his sentiments
were so lar liberal as to admit that the church wanted re-
forming, be supported the catholic religion, and even as-
sisted the inquisitors and informers. He was also averse
to capital punishments for heresy, and involved himself in
danger by pleading for some pretended heretics, who, it
was reported, were to be put to death. He likewise ap*
peased the king's wrath againat the Waldenses before the
slaughter of Cabrioles and Merindol, and once delivered
Doiet out of prison. His zeal for maintaining the rights
'Of the Gallican church against the pretensions of the court
^Rome, rendered him odious there, and the doctors of
the Sorbonne were not less displeased with him for the
protection he granted in 1545, to Robert Stephens, the
celebrated printer. These were favourable symptoms of
liberality, at least, if not of an inclination to befriend th^
cause of the reformation, and soften the rigours of perse^^
cution. But Chatel wanted firmness, and withdrawing his
protection from Stephens, the latter was forced to retire
into another country. Chatel was perhaps influenced by
tile favours heaped upon him by Francis T. who made hint
bishop of Tulle in 1539, and afterwards bishop of Magon.
He is said never to have appeared to more advantage as a
divine and a man of eloquence than when he prepared
Francis I: for death, and delivered his funeral orationi
Yet in this oration, by hinting that the soul of Francis had
immediately gone to heaven, he alarmed the doctors of the
Sorbonne, who complained that he was heretic enou^rh to
oppose the doctrine of purgatory. A more valid objec<-
tion, perhaps, m4ght have been his high praise of Fran<^
Cli I. whose character was not that of perfect purity.
Henry II. tiie successor of Francis, finding that Chatel
intended to leave the court, by way of detaining him, be«
stowed on him the important office of grand almoner, and
translated him to the bishopric of Orleans, in which he is
said to have introduced some salutary reformation among
Ibe ignorant and vicious priests. Here he frequently
preached, and very wonderful accounts are given of the
effects of his eloquence upon the mo^t hardened impe-
niteiAtft. On one of these occasions he was seized with a
fit of the palsy, which proved fatal Feb. 3, 1 552, and
WhicfaP%ome protestant writers considered as a judgment on
him for maintaining a conduct contrary to the convictions
176 C H A T E L.
t
of his own mind. Hq was undoubtedly a man inclined
mocieratiun, but appears to have been ambitious, and to«
much ensnared by a court life. ' His learning waa Tery ex-
tensive ; but we have only in print a Latin letter from
Francis I. to Charles V, ascribed to him, and his funeral
oration on Francis I. both printed in his life by Galland^
published by Baluze, Paris, 1674, 8vo. There was, how-
ever, an edition of the oration printed in 1547, under the
title ^' Le trepas, obseques, et enterrement de Frangois I.
avec les deux sermons funebres,^* &c. 4to. ^ , -
CH ATELET (Paul Hay, lord of), a gratleman de^
scended f'rom an* ancient family in Bretany, one of the
members of the French academy, advocate-general to the
parliament of Rennes, afterwards master of the requests^
and counseller'of state, was born in 1593. The court
entrusted him with several important commissions; but,
upon his refusing to be among the judges at the trial of the
inarechal de Marillac, he was sent to prison, but set at
liberty some time after. It is said, that, being one day
with M. de 8t. Preuil, who was soliciting the due de Mont**
morenci's pardon, the king said to him, '^ I believe M. du
Chatelet would willingly part with an arm to save M. de
Montmorenci.'* To which he repUed, ^\ I would, sire, that
I could lose them both, for they can do you no service^
and save one« who has gained many battles for you,^ and
would gain many more.'^ After his release from prison
above noticed, he went to the king's chapel; but that
prince affecting to look another way that he might noli
meet the eyes of a person to whom he had lately done
^uch a flagrant injury, Du Chatelet whispered one of the
noblemen, ^^ Be so good, my lord, as to tell the king, that
I freely forgive him, and beg the honour of one look.*^
This made the king smile, and Du Chatelet was forgiven.
It was after the same release, that, when the cardinal de
Richelieu (most of whose state papers were the products of
bis pen) made some excuses for his detention, he an*
8\yered, <^ I make a great difference betwixt any ill your
eminency does of yourself, and any whic1iyt)u permit tor
be done ; nor diall you find me the less devoted to your
service.^' Du Chatelet died April 6, 1 636, leaving several
works in prose and verse, the principal of which are, 1^
1 Oen. Diet— >Moreri. — ^Dict Hist,-- Jortin's Erasmui.— CfeTier Vfx&U ^
WtkwtnxXk de Paris*
",Hial;p^pei<te Bertraad d^QMes^bin, cgpn^t^tbjc^Je Franpe,"
/1.66jS, « fol. a^id lj6;93, 4to. .2, " Obseryatipns sur }^ yie^^et
kccuida^nia^Dn du mareschal de Marillacy?^ Paris^ l^P,
4l;o, 3. ".Plq^iejitSt de pi^es pour servjr a.l*Hi8tpire/'
J635, fpl, and. some satires aii^d poeoTs which jire npt in
^uck ^$jua)atioo. ^
CHAT^TERTON (Thomas), an English poet o(si^^
.ffllar,^eniu»^nd character, jyas born Nov. ,20, 1752. l|is
^j;her, \aras.,p|^mjajly a writing usher to a school in Bjristpl,
afterwards , a siqigipg man in the cathedral, and.las^fy,
m^tec.pf the fr^e-school in Pylcrstreet in the same city.
,Q(S died aJbputitbree months before, this son was born. It
. n aot.quite piymportaut to add that our po^t was descended
.fkqo) a. IpngJine'of ancestors who held the office qi sexton
of,St. JVJafy R^dclifFe; since it was in the muniment, room
of this church that the materials were found from Wibi^h be
cpjQSjTupted tiiat. system of imposture which has rendered
l^s jaam^ i^Olebrat^d, and bis history interesting. At^.^ye
yeara.ipf,4ge. be was ^ent to the school in Pyle-str^et, then
superintended by a Mr.. Love; but here he improved io
little, that his mother took him bacL While under b^r
care bis, cbildisb attention is said to have been engaged by
' the. illuminated capitals of an old musical maqusci'ipt \n
/French, , which circumstance encouraged her to initiate.bini
in thp alphabet, and she afterwards taught him to read
• from an old bla^k-ietter Testament or Bible. That a per-'
;son of ber rank jn Ufe ^should be able to read the Mack*
letter is ^qmewha^ extraordinary, but the fact rests, upc^n
her.j^utbQrity, and b«LS bfeen considered as an introduction
ta that, fondness for anti^Mities for wbichhe wa^ afterwards
distiugpMbied.
His next remoyal was to Colston's charity school, . at the -
rage of eight ^'(^aors, where he lyas taught reading, writing,
and afitl^pe.Uo,, at :tbe daily rate of nine hours in summer,'
,a^d.sey^nih\ winter. Such at least wa» the prescribied*
.diacipUpejof^he school^ although it was far. more, than a
boy of his capacity tequired. One of bis masters, Phillips, .
, wium,be4}as celebrated in an elegy, was a frequent writer
of yei:ses in, the Q^iagazines, and was the means jof ^^c^tiiig
^degree o^^pp^tical emulation among bis scholars,., but to =
• tl^is ChattertQU appeared for. soipe time quite indifferent,
.Abo^t bis tenth year be began to read from inclination}
» Marcri.—Dict. Hirt. '
Vol. IX N
17S C tt A T T E R T O N.
sometimes hiring his books from a circulating library, arid
sometimes borrowing them from hiis friends; and before
he was twelve, had gone through about seventy volumes,
principally history and divinity. Before this time also he
had Composed some verses, particularly those entitled
" Apostate Will ;" which, although they bear no compa-
tisph with what he afterwards produced, discover at that
early age a disposition to personal satire, anda conscious-
ness of superior sense. It would be more remarkable, were
it true, that while at this school he is said to have shown
to his master Phillips, one of those manuscripts which he
pretended had been found in a chest in Redcliffe church,
put as neither Phillips or another person to whom this
treasure was exhibited, could read it, the commencement
of his Rowleian impostures must be postponed to a future
period.
At school be had gathered some knowledge of music,
drawing, and arithmetic, and with this stock he was bound
apprentice July 1767, to Mr. John Lambert, an attorney
at Bristol, for seven j^ears. His apprenticeship appears
to have been of the lower order, and his situation more
resembling that of a servant than a pupil. His chief em-
ployment was to copy precedents, which frequently did
uot require more than two hours in a day. The rest of his
time was probably filled up by the desultory course of read-
ing which he had begun at school, and which terminated
'chiefly in the study of the old English phraseblogy, he-
raldry, and miscellaneous antiquities : of the two last he
acquired, hot a profound knowledge, but enough to en-
able him to create fictions capable of deceiving those who
had less. His general conduct during his appretiticeship
was decent and regular. On one occasion only Mr. Lain-
bert thought him deserving of correction for writing an
abusive letter in a feigned hand to his old school-mastelr.
So soon did this young man learh the arts of deceit, which
he was now preparing to practise upon a more extensile
scale.
In the beginning of October 1768, the completion of
the new bridge at Bristol suggested to him a fit oppor-
tunity for playing off the first of his public deceptions.
This was an account of the ceremonies on opening the old
' bridge, said to be taken from an ancient manuscript, a
copy of which he sent to Farley's Bristol Journal, in a short
letter signed Dunhelmtits Bristoliensis. Such a^nemoii^ at
C H A T T,E H.T 0 N. 179
so critical a timei naturally excited attention^ and Fitrley,
who was called upon to give up the author, after much
iuquiry, discovered that Chatterton had sent it. Chatter-
ton was consequently interrogated, probably without much
. ceremony, where he had obtained it. And here his un-/
happy disposition shewed itself in a manner highly affect-
ing in one so young, for he had not yet reached his six-
teenth year, and according to all that can be gathered, had
not been corrupted either by precept or example. " To
.the threats," we are told, "of those who treated him
(agreeably to his appearance) as a child, he returned no-
thing but haughtiness, and a refusal to give any account.
By milder usage he was somewhat softened, and appeared
inclined to give all the information in his power."
The effect, however, of this mild usage was, that instead
of all or any part of the information in his power, he tried
two different falsehoods : the first, " that he was employed
to transcribe the contents of certain ancient manuscripts
^y ^ gentleman, who had also engaged him to furnish
complimentary verses inscribed to a lady with whom that
gentleman was in love." But as this story was to rest on
proofs which he c^guld not produce, he next asserted, " that
he had received the paper in question, together with many
other manuscripts, from his father, who had found them
in a large chest in the upper room over the chajpel, on the
north side of Redcliffe church.V
As this last story is the foundation of the whole contro-
versy respecting Chattertpn, it will be necessary to give
the circumstances as related in his life written for the
Biographia Britannica, and prefixed to the recent edition
of his works.
" Over the north porch of St. Mary Redcliffe church,
which was founded, or at least rebuilt, by Mr. W. Canynge
(an emioent merchant of Bristol, in the fifteenth century,
and in the reign of Edward the Fourth), there is a kind of
muniment room, in which were deposited six or seven
chests, one of which in particular was called Mr. Canynge's
ctfre: this chest, it is said, was secured by six keys, two
of which were entrusted to the minister and procurator of
the church, two to the mayor, and one to each of the
church-wardens. In process of time, however, the six
keys appear to have been lost : and about the year 1727, a
notion prevailed that some title deeds, and other 'writings
«f value, were contained in Mr. Canynge's cofre. In con*
I«0 C k 'a T T "E K T 6 U,
sequence of this opinion an order of Vestry Was made, that
the chest should be opened under the inspection of an
attorney ; and that those writings which appeared of con-
sequence should be removed to the south porch of the
church. The locks were therefore forced, and not only
the principal chest, biit the others, which were also sup-
posed to contain writings, were all broken open. The
deeds imn:iediately relating to the church were removed,
and the other manuscripts were left exposed as of no value.
Considerable depredations had, from time to time, been
committed upon them by different persons : but the mast
insatiate of. these plunderers was the father of Chatterton.
His uncle being sexton of St. Mary Redcliffe gave him
free access to the church. He carried off, from time to
time, parcels of the parchments, and one tihie alone, with
the assistance of his boys, is known to have filled a large
basket with them. They were deposited in a cupboard in
the school and employed for different purposes, such ds the
covering of copy-books, &c. : in particular, Mr. Gibbs, the.
minister of the parish, having presented . the boys with*
twenty Bibles, Mr. Chatterton, in order to preserve these
books from being damaged, covered them with some of
the parchments. At his death, the widow being under a
. necessity of removing, carried the remainder of them to
her own habitation. Of the discovery of their value by the
younger Chatterton, the account of Mr. Smith, a very
intimate acquaintanoe, which he gave to Dr. Glynn of
Cambridge, is too interesting to be omitted. Whenyou6g
Chatterton was first articled to Mr. Lambert, he used fre-
quently to come home to his mother, by way of a short
visit. There one day his eye was caught by one of these
jparchments, which had been converted into a thread-paper.
He found not only the writing to be very old, the charac-
ters very different from common characters, but that the
subject therein treated was different from cotnmon subjects.
Being naturally of an inquisitive and cufious turn, he vi'ks
, very much struck with their appearance, and, as might be
. expected, began to question his mother what those thread-
. papers were,, how she got them, and whence they Catae.
. Upon further inquiry, he was led to a full discovery of all
. the parchments which remained; the bulk of them con-
\sisted of poetical and other compositions, by Mr. Canynge,
^,ahd a particular friend, of his, Thomas RoWiey, whom
Chattvrtbn at first called a monk, and sli^erWards a seci^lar
pfiest of the fifteenth, qentury. Sucbj, at Ieast| appears to
^^ the account wt^jch Cbatterton thought proper to give^
and which be wish^4 tp bp believed/ It is, indeed, coQ«
filmed by the, t^si^n^op]^ of bis motlier apd sister/ Mrs^
Chattertou informed a fripnd, of the dean of Exeter (Dr.
Milles), that on her removal from Pyle-street, she emptied
thfi. cupboard, of its contents^ partly into a large long deaj
bpj^, ^pTfi^ be|r husband used- to keep his clothes, and
Djir^tly iDtQ. 1^ square oak box of a smaller size ; carrying
bothi with their contents to her lodgings^ where, according
to b^r account, thpy continued neglected, and u;uUsturbea
tiii her son first discovered their value ; who having ex-
aliened their contents^ told his mother ^ t;hat be had found
a tri^ure, and was so glad nothing could be like it.' That
he then removed all these parchments out of theJarge long
d^ bpx; iq which l^is father used to keep bis clothes, into
ti^.e square oak box: that he was perpetually ransacking
ftyery C9n^er of the bouse for more parchments ; and frdnof ,
:(iqpie tq time, carried away those he bad already found by
jgoci^^a, fulJ. That one day happening to see Clarke's
!^if^ry of the Bible covered with one of those parchment^^
ke swo];e a great oath, and stripping the book, put th^
cover into his pocket, and carried it away; at the same
time stripping a common little ?ible, but finding no wri*
ling upon the cover, replaced it again very leisurely. Upon
Jii^og informed pf the manner in which his father had prb-
9ured the parchments, he went himself to the place, and
pl^ljLed up four noore/'
Such IS th^ story of the discovery of the poems attri-
buibed to Rowley, ivhiph Cbatterton evidently made up
^oifi the credulity pf his mother and other friends, who
cfiiujd not read the pstrcbi^nents on which he affected to set
S9, hig]^ ^ value, and v^bic^ he afterwards endeavoured to
ffadfnc pf public importance "by producing these wonderful
|retasu;'e$ of Canynge's cofre. In his attempt already re-
|ate4s respecting the old bridge, he had not been eminently
,§|]cc^s^ful, owing (o his prevarication. He now imparted
sgi^e pf these manuscripts to George Catcot, a'pewterer of
Bci^^l, ^ho had beaH of the: discovery, and desired to be
aDtvp4ucg4 ^ Cbatterton. The latter very readily gave
him ibfi *f Bristow Tragedy,'* Rowley's epitaph on Ca-
nyng^^a ii^o^oir, and some smaller pieces. ' These Patent
fOp[\f(iunic;^ted to I^r. Barret, a surgeon, who was writing
* PifW pf J549tp^, ,and would naturally be glad' to add tp
• A*
182 C H A T T E R T O N.
its honours that of having produced such a poet as Rowley*
In his conversations with Barret and Catcot, he appears ta
have been driven to many prevarications, sometimes own-
ing that be bad destroyed several of these valuable mftnu-
dcriptSy and at other tinies asserting that he was in posses-
sion of others which he could not produce. These contra-
dictions must baVe entirely destroyed his evidence in any
other case, in the opinion of thinking and impartial judges ;
but the historian of Bristol could not forego the hopes of
enriching his book by originals of so great importance; and
having obtained from Ch»tterton several fragments, some
of considerable length, actually introduced them as au-
thentic, in his history, long after the controversy ceased,
which had convinced the learned world that he had been
egregiously duped.
In return for these contributions; Barret and Catcot
supplied Chatterton occasionally with money, and intro-
duced him into company. At his request, too, Mr. Barret
lent our poet some medical authors, and gave him a fewr
instructions in surgery, but still his favourite studies were
heraldry and English antiquities, which he pursued with as
much success as could be expected from one who knew jio
language but his own. Camden's Britannia appears to
have been a favourite book ; and he copied the glossaries
of Chaucer and bthers with indefatigable perseverance,'
storing his memory with antiquated words. Even Bailey's
dictionary has been proved to have afforded him many of
those words which the advocates for Rowley thought could
be known only to a writer of his pretended age.
During all these various pursuits, he employed hts pen
in essays, in prose and verse, chiefly of the satirical kind.
He appears to have read the party pamphlets of the day,
and imbibed much of their abusive spirit; In 1769, we
find him a very considerable contributor to the Town and
Country Magazine, which began about that time- His
ambition seems to have been to rise to eminence, entirely
by the efforts of his genius, either in his own character, or
that of some of the heroes of the Redcliffe chest, in which
he was perpetually discovering a most convenient variety
of treasure, with which to reward his admirers and secure
their patronage. Mr. Burgum, another pewterer, main-
tains the authenticity of Rowley's poems. Chatterton re-
wards him with a pedigree from the time of William the
Conqueror, allying him to some of the most ancient fami-
C H A T T E R T O N. 183
lies io the kingdom, and presents bim with the ^' Romaunt
of the Cnyghte/' a poem, written by John de Bergbam,
one of bis own ancestors, about four hundred and fifty
years before. In order to obtain the good opinion of bis
relation Mr. Stephens of Salisbury, he informs him that he
is descended from Fitzstephen, grandson of the venerable
Od, earl of Blois, and lord of Holderness, who flourished
about the year 1095. — ^In this manner Cbatterton contrived
to impose on men who had no means of appreciating the
value of wl^the communicated, and were willing to believe
what, in one respect or other, they wished to be true.
But the most remarkable of his pretended discoveries
t^ued in an application to one who was not so easily to be
deceived. This was the celebrated Horace Walpole,' the
late lord Orford, who had not long before completed his
f' Anecdoties of Painters." In March 1769, Cbatterton^
with his usual attention to the wants or prejudices of the
persons on whom he wished to impose, sent Mr. Walpole
a letter, offering to furnish him with accounts of a series of
great painters who had flourished at Bristol, and remitted
also a small specimen of poems of the same remote aera.
Mr. Walpole, although he could not, as he informs us, very
readily swallow "a series of great painters at Bristol,"
appears to have been in some measure pleased with the
<;iffer, and discovered beauties in the verses sent. He there-
fore returned a polite and thankful letter, desiring farther
information, from this letter Chatterton appears to have
thought, he had made a conquest, and therefore, in his
answer, came to the direct purpose of his application. He
informed his correspondent that he was the son of a poor
widow, who supported him with great difficulty; that he
was an apprentice to an attorney, but had a taste for more
elegant studies ; he affirnied that great treasures of ancient
poetry had been discovered at Bristol, and were, in the
hands of a person who had lent him the specimen already
transmitted, as well as a pastoral (" Elinoure and Juga'*)
which accompanied this second letter. He hinted also a
wish that Mr. Walpole would assist him in emerging from
so dull a prpfession, by procuring some place, in which he
might pursue the natural bias of his genius. Mr. Walpole
immediately submitted the poems to Gray and Mason, who
at first sight pronounced them forgeries, on which he re-
turned Chatterton an answer, advising him to apply to the
duties of his profession^ as more certain means of attaining
tU G H A T t E A T d N.'
^e iddepehdence dnd- leisure of Which' he Was desirous.
This produced a peevish letter from- Chatterton^ desiiing'
tbemannscriptsfback^ as they were the property of another,
afid after soine d<elay, owing to Mr. Walpole^s taking* ar trip
^ Paris, the poems' were returned in a blaiik cover. Thfe^
affroifiit, as Cl^tterton considered it, be never forgfetVe, atid
At'this no maii need wonder, who reflects howdiffietik it
itin^ ey^r be for air impostor to forgive those who hare
Attempted tb detect him.
' Thfe only remarkable cohscqtience of this correspondence*
was the cettsure Mr. Walpole incurred fVom- the admirers
6f Ch{itterton> who, upon no other authority than the cir«
evimslasnces' now related, persisted- in accusing him* of bar^
b&rous' neglect of an extraordinary genius who solicited
hiiff protection, and finally of being the cause of his shock-'
ktg end. Mr. Walpole, when he found this calumny trans-*
mitted from hand to hand, and probably believed by those
i^ho did not take the trouble to inquire into the facts, drew
up a candid narrative of the whole correspondence, which
Was broken off nearly two years before Chattertoti died^
during which two years the latter had resided, with every
encouragement, in London ; and^ according to his owtt
account, was within the prospect of eas^and independence,
without the aid of Mr. Walpolc*s patronage. Of all thi*
Mr. Walpole's accusers could not be ignorant, if they knew
dny thing of Chatterton*s history. They must have knownr
that Chatterton did not apply to Walpole, as a' poet, but
merely as a young man who was transmitting the property
of another, and who had no claims of his ow n^ bat that he
was tired of a dull profession, and wished for a plafce irr
^hich he might indulge his taste in what was more Kvely.
A patron must have had many places in his gift and feW
applicants, if he could spare one to a person who professed
i)o other merit than an inclination to exchange labour for
ease. Yet Walpole has been held forth to public indigna-
tion as the cause of Chatterton's death.
About this time (1769) we are told that Chatterton be-
came an infidel ; but whether this was in consequence of
any course of reading into which he had fallen, or that he
found it convenient to get rid of the obligations which stood
in the way of his past or future schemes, H is not very ma*
terial to inquire. Yet although one of his advocates, thefore-
itaost to accuse Mr. Walpole of neglecting him, asserts that
" ^i« nrofHgacy was at ieast as cotxspicuous as bis abilities/*
4-s.
C H A TT E lUrO'N; i8S
it does not appear tbat he was nitiiie'pr#ftgete in the in^
dulgence of the grosser paiisiotiiS) than other yottilg' meiv
who venture on the gaietifes* of life at afi early age.- White
at Bristol he had not mixed with improper company ; fakr^
few associates of the female sex were penson$>of charaetier.'
In London the case might have been otherwbe ; but' of thila?
I we have no direct proof ; and he practised at teast one cute
wbich is no mconsid^fabte presenri^tive, he' was r^morit-
ably temperate in his diet. In his wr]tin^5 ind^ed^ w^'
find some passages that are merer licentious than could-
have been expected frdm a young man u nhaekneyed' in the-
ways of vice, but not more so than might be eicpeeted in
one who was premature in every things and had exhausted
the stock of human folly at an age when it i» usually found
unbroken* All his deceptiom, his prevaricationsj his poli*.
ticU tergiversation, &c. were such as we should have looked*
f(» in men of an advanced age^ hardened by evil a9socia^-
tions, and soured by disappointed pride or avarice; One
effect of his infidelity, we are told, was to render the idtea
of suicide familiar. This he had cherished before he left
Bristol, and when he could not fliirly complain of the
world's neglect^ as he bad preferred no higher pretensions
than those of a man who has by accident discovered a
treasure which he knows not how to make current. Be-
sides rfepeatedly intimating to Mr. Lambert's servants that
he intended to put an end to his life, he left a paper in
sight of some of the family, specifying the day on which
he meant to carry this purpose into execution. The rea-
son assigned for this appointment was the refusal of a gen-
tleman whom he had occasionally compinnented in his
poems, to supply him with money. It has since been sup-
posed to be merely an artifice to get rid of his apprentice-
ship ; and this certainly was the consequence^ as Mr. Lam-
bert did not choose that his house should be honoured by
such an act of heroism. He had now served this gentte-
man about two years and ten months, during which be
learned so little of law as to be unable to draw up the
necessary docmnent respecting the dissolution of bis ap-
prenticeship. We have seen how differently he was em--
ployed ; and there is reason to think that he had fabri-
cated the whole of his ancient poetry and antique maim-
scripts during his ^pprfenticeship, and before he left Bristol.
His object now wa^ to go to London, where he had fuU
confirdi^te t&at hi& tialents would be duly hono>ured. He
186 CHATTER TON.
had tirrittep letters to several booksellers of that city Vho
encouraged him to reside among them. Some literary ad-
venturers would have entered on suo^ a plan with difB-r
dence ; and of many who have become authors by profes-
sion, the greater part may plead the excuse that they n^i«
ther foresaw, oor could be made to understand the many
mortifications and difficulties that are to"" be surmounted.
Chatterton, on the contrary, set out with the confidence
pf ^ man who has laid his plans in such deep wisdom, that
he thinks it impossible they should fail. He boasted to
bis correspondents of three distinct resources, one at least,
of which was unfortunately in his own power. He first
meant to employ his pen ; then to turn methodist preacher ,
and if both should fail, to shoot himself. As ^is friends do
not appear to have taken any steps to rectify his notions on
these schemes, it is probable they either did not consider
him as serious ; or had given him up, as one above all
advice, and curable only by a little experience, which they
were not sorry he should acquire in his own way, and at his,
own expence.
His first literary attempts by which he was to realize the
dreams of presumption, were of the political kind, chiefly
satires against the members.and friends of administration.
In March 1770, be wrote a poem called " Kew Gardens,''
part of which biily has been published, but enough to show
that he had been supplied by some patriotic preceptor with
the floating scandal of the day against the princess dowager,
lord Bute, and other statesmen. It is highly improbable
tliat a boy who had spent the greater part of his time since
be left school, in fabricating or decyphering the poetry,
heraldry, and topography of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, should on a sudden become well acquainted
with the intrigues of political men and their families. In
ail this, his materials must have been supplied by sonie
persons who lived by propagating the calumnies of personal
and political history, and who would rejoice in the daunt-
less spirit of their new associate. Another poem, of the
same description, was entitled " The Whore of Babylon."
Of both these there are specimens in his works, but it
does not appear that the whole of them were printed.
On his arrival in London,, near the end of April, he
received, according to his own account, the most flattering
encouragement, and various employment was recom-
laeiided. Among other schemes was a History of London^
C H A T T E R T O N. 187
which, if be had Uved to complete it, must have been a
suitable companion to Mr. Barret's History of Bristol. In
the mean time he v4*ote for many of the magazines and
newspapers ; his principal contribntions appeared in the
Freeholder's Magazine, the Town and Country, the Court
and City, the Political Register, and the Gospel Maga-
zine. He wrote songs also for the public gardens, and for
some time got so much money that he thought himself
comparatively affluent, and able to provide for his mother
and sister, whose hearts he gladdened by frequent intima-
tions of his progress. During this career he became ac-
quainted with Wilkes, and with Beckford, who was then
ford mayor. These patriots, however, he soon discovered
were not so ready with their money as with their praise,
and as the former appears to have been his only object, he
had some thoughts of writing for the ministerial party.
After Beckford's death, which he affected to lament as his
ruin, he addressed a letter to lord North, signed Mode-
rator, complimenting administration for rejecting the city
remonstrance, and one of the same date signed Probus,
abusing administration for the same measure. While this
unprincipled young man was thus demonstrating how un-
safe it would be for any party to trust him, his letters |to
all his frieftids continued to be full of the brightest prospects
of honours and wealth. But about the month of J uly some
revolution appears to have taken place in his mind or' his
affairs, which speedily put an end to all his hopes.
Of what nature this was, remains yet a secret. About
the time mentioned, he removed from a house in Shore-
ditch, where he had hitherto liveicl, to the house of a Mrs.
Angel, a sack-maker in Brook-street, Holboni, where he
beca^ie poor and unhappy, abandoning his literary pur<*
suits, and projecting to go out to Africa, as a naval sur-
geon's mate. He had picked up some knowledge of sur-
gery from Mr. Barret, and now requested that gentleman's
recommendation, which Mr. Barret, who knew his versa-
tile turn, and how unfit in other respects he was for the
situation,' thought proper to refuse. If this was the im-
mediate cause of his catastrophe, what are we to think of
hiff lofty spirit ? It is certain, however, that he no longer
employed his pen, and that the short remainder of his
days were spent in a conflict between pride and poverty.
On the day preceding his death, he refused with indig-
nation, a kind offer from Mrs. Angel to partake of her
1,«8 C B A T T^ R T a N.
dinner^: as^rii^g her that he waif not hungry^ although hci
bad not, eaten any thing for twa.or tbrcie daiySf On the
%5th of August, 1770, he was found de^d, in consequence^
a9: is, supposed, of having swallpwed ar^qic in water, or
some preparation of opiiim. He wa^ buried in a shell in
the. buryiog-ground belonging to^ Shoe -lane wor^boii&e«
Previous to this rash act he appe«,rs to have d^tiroyed all
fais manuscripts,, as the room when, broken, open wa& found
covered with little scraps, of paper.
. It has. been, regretted that we know veiry little of th^
life of this extraordinary young, many whose writing;!^
have since become an object of so much curiosity ; and.
great surprize has been expressed, that from the many
with whom he appears to have been acquainted, such
scanty inform;9.tion has been obtained. For this, however^
various reasons may be assigned^ which will lessen the
ponder. In tb^; first place, his fame, using that word in
itsmost: common application,^ was confined principally tp
his native. city, and. there it appears that his. friends under*
valued his talents, because they considered him in no
better light than that of^^an unprincipled young man, who
had accidentally become possessed of certain an<;ient ma*
nuscripts, some of which he had given up,^ some he bad
mutilated, and the rest l^p had destroyed He was with
them an illiterate charijty-boy, the run-away apprentice ox
backu^y-* writer of au attorney, atid aft^r be came to
London, they appear to have ma,de very fev? inquiries zffter
bim, congratulating themseLy^s tba^ they Ip^d got rid of a
rash, impetuous, headstifong boy, wi^a would do ^om^
mischief,, and disgrace hin^self and bis relations. Again,
^Jk I/ondon, notwithstancling his bafls^ng letters to .hie
mother and sifter, he rose to no big^ r^x^ a^i^png the re(T
putable writers of the day, his productions beiug confiq^
to publications of the lower order, all of which are now
forgotten. But there cannot be a morft flecisive pipoof of
the little regard he attracted i\i Londqii, tl^?^n the secrecy
and silence which accpmpanied hi$ de^tb. . This event,
although so extraordinary, for young suicides are suri^ly
Dot common, is not even n^entioned in apy 4h;^pe, in tbf
Gentleman's Magazine, the Ai^nual Register, the St. jame^^f
pr London Chronicles, nor in any of the respectable pcub?
iioations of the day. He die^, a cQronex> jury s^t ntpoi)
the body, and be was buried a^iong paupers, so long be^
£ore Ills ^equ^iptf^pce h^itrd of these ciro^jpiftances, thj^t it
CHATTERTON. ^18^
was #iib some difficulty they could be traced with My* de-
gree of authehticity. And lastly, it does not< appear tbut
any iniquities were made ittto'his early history for nearly
seven years after his death, i^hen the Poems * of ilo^idy
were first pobiiished, and led tbe^way to a T^ry aciBite^lind
long protracted diseuitsion on their merits. Itinay be
added, too, that they ^ho contended for the Authenticity
of the poems, 'were for sintGing every circumstance that
could prove the genius dfOhiitte^rton, Utitil Mr. Tbdoias
Wartonand sbme* Others took the ojpposite side of the
question, brought the poems to the test of mteirnal' evi-
dence, and discovered that however' eoi'/ftf^rrfm^ry it was
for Cfaatterton to produce tbem in the ^ghteentb century,
it was impossible that Rowley cpuld have written them in
the fifteenth.
When public attention #as at ^length ^led to €hatt6r-
ton^s history, his admirers took every step to extite com-
passi6n in bis favour. It became the ftwhion to i^peiat 'that
be iras starved by an insensible age, or suffered, by^tiie
neglect of patrbns, to^ perish in want of the common ne«
ce»alries of life. But of this'fhere is no satisfactory evi-
dence. On the contrary, he Appears to have beeu fully
^ employed by'bis literaty -friends almost up to the day of
' bis death, and from onebf-them he solicited money a vefy
little before that cktastrophe, and received it with an as*
sura-nee that he should* haVe more if he wantied it This
benefactor was the late 'Mr.' Hamilton senior, the pro-
prietor of the Critical Review, a man of well^nown li-
berality, both of ttiind'-and puifse. One who knefw him
well> when in London, and who wrote under the inspectida
of Mr. Hamilton in the Critical Bieview, gives itas a f>ro-
bable conjecture, that ** he wished to seal his seicret with
'bis- death. He knew that be and Rowley were* suspected
to be the ^ame ; his^ Londdo 'friends spoke of it with litde
temple, and he neither confessed nor denied it. He
might fear somewhat frony' binlself ;- might dread the effeots
of increasing obligations, a<nd be struck with horror- at the
thought of a public detection. He sometimes seemed
'wild, abstracted, tind incoherent; at others he had a
~ settled gloominess in his countenance, the sure presage of
his fatal resolution. In short, this was the very 'tempera-
ment and c6nstitution frbm which -we should, in similar cir«
cuinstances, e^itpect thesame event. He was one of thO^ef
irregtrtai^ meteor? which astodtsh the universe fo^ a momeat^
190 CHAT T,E R T O N.
and then disappear for ever/^ This is at least plausible ;
but the immediate cause of his death, must perhaps yet re-
main a mystery. He had written so recently to his Bristol
friends (about a mouth before), without a syllable indi-
cating discontent or despair, that it was wholly unexpected
on their part ; but suicide, at one time or other, his bio-
graphers have proved, was his fixed purpose, and the
execution of it was probably to depend on his disappoint-
ment in whatever wild or impracticable scheme he. might
meditate. He got enough in London by his literary la-
. bouts, to supply the decent necessaries of life, bat his
dreams of affluence* were over, and had probably left, that
frightful void in his mind at which despair and disappointed
paide entered.
The person of Chatterton is said to have been like his
genius, " premature ; he had a manliness and dignity be-
. yond his years ; and there was a something about him un-
"Commonly prepossessing. His most remarkable feature
was his eyes, which, though grey, were uncommonly
. piercing ; when he warmed in argument, or otherwise, they
. sparkled with fire, and dne eye, it is said, was still more
remarkable than the other.^'
As to his genius, it must ever be the subject of admira*
tion, whether he was, or was not, the author of the poem^
ascribed to Rowley. If we look at the poems avowedly
his own, together with his productions in prose, where
shall we find such and so many indubitable proofs of ge-
. nius at an early age, struggling against many difficulties ?
: Let us contemplate him as a young man, without classical
education, and who knew nothing of literary society, but
. during the few months of his residence in London ; and if to
this we add what has been most decidedly proved, that he was
not only the author of the poems attributed to Rowley, but
consumed his early days in the laborious task of disguising
them in the garb of antiquity, perpetually harassed by
suspicion and in dread of discovery ; if likewise we reflect
that the whole of his career closed before he had completed
his eighteenth year, we must surely allow that he was one
of the most extraordinary young men of modern times, and
deserves to be placed high among those instances of pre-
mature talents recorded by Kleferus in his *^ Bibliotbeca
. Eruditorum Praecocium,'* and by Baillet in his " Enfans
Celebres." Still our admiration should be chastened by
confining it to the single point of Cbatterton^s extreme
CHATTERTON. 191
youth/ If we go farther, and con»der Rowley's poenis as
the most perfect productions of any age; if, with dean
Milles, we prefer him to Homer, Virgil, Spenser, and
Shakspeare, we go far beyond the bounds of sober critir
cism, or rather we defy its laws. Wonderful as those
poems are, when considered as the productions of a boy,
many heavy deductions must be made from them, if we
consider them as the productions of a man, of one who has
bestowed labour as well as contributed genius, and who
has learned to polish and correct, who would not have ad-
mitted such a number of palpable imitations and plagia-
risms, and would have altered or expunged a multitude of
tame, prosaic, and bald lines and metres.
The general character of his works Ikas been both fairly
and elegantly appreciated by lord Orford, in the last
edition of his lordship's works. His life, says this critic,
should be compared widi ^^ the powers of his mind, the
perfection of his poetry, his knowledge of the world, which
though in some respects erroneous, spoke quick intuition ;
his humour, his vein of satire, and above all, the amazing
number of books he must have looked into, though chained
down to a laborious and almost incessant service, and con-
fined to Bristol, except at most for the last five months of
his life, the rapidity with which he seized all the topics of
conversation then in vogue, whether of politics, literature,
or fashion ; and when added to all this mass of reflection,
it is remembered that his youthful passions were indulged
to excess, faith in such a prodigy may well be suspended
—and we should look for some secret agent behind the
curtain, if it were not as difScult to believe that any man
whopossessedsuch a vein of genuine poetry would have sub-
mitted to lie concealed, while he actuated a puppet ; or
would have stooped to prostitute his muse to so many un-
worthy functions. But nothing in Chatterton can be se-
parated from Chatterton. His noblest flight, his sweetest
strains, his grossest ribaldry, and his most common-place
imitations of the productions of magazines, were all the
effervescences of the same ungovernable impulse, which,
cameleon-like, imbibed the colours of all it looked on. It
was Ossian, or a Saxon monk,, or Gray, or Smolktt^ or Ju-
nius-^and if it failed most in what it most affected to be, a
poet of the fifteenth century, it was because it could not
imitate what had not existed.*'
M2 C'U A -T T E R rrx) N.
Th&faets^already relafted are .pnnciipally taken from the
,aecount.dtawn up originally for the Biographia Britannica»
^land at the dismncie'of eighteen y^ars, prefixed to ^an. edi-
tion of .^is. iworks, 'witbout >any .addition or alteration.
^^Samediiog* yet remains to ibe said of his virtues, whii:by . if
•the .poetical ;eolc^ii|ims: that have appeared deserve any
.crudity were. many. Except bis teimperance, however^
^akestdy noticed, -we 'find ocily that he preserved an .affec-
tionate attacbmeAt for bis mother and sister, and .even
eoneerning this, it avonld appear that more has been said
.than is( consistent. It has been asseited that he sent pre-
:sent»tothem from London, when in want himself; but it
is evident from bis letters that these were unnecessary ar-
ticles for persons in their situation,, and were not sent when
he was in want*. Six weeks after, when he felt- himself
in that state, he committed an act which affection for his
' relations, since he despised all higher considerations,
-ought to have; retarded. His last letter to his sister or
mother, dated July 20, is full of high-spirited hopes, and
contains a promise to visit them before the first of Januarj"^,
but not a word, that can imply discontent^ far Jess an in-
tention to put an end to his life. What must have been
their fedings when the melancholy event reached them!
. How little these poor women were capable of. ascertaining
his character appears from the very singular evidietice of
<his sister, who affirmed that he was ^^ a lover of truth from
{the. earliest dawn of reason.'' The affectionate prejudices
: of a fond relation may be pardoned, but it was surely unoe-
'Cessary to introduce this in a life every part of which proves
hi» utter contempt for truth at an age when we areitatrght
> |o espect a disposition open,, ingenuous, and candid.
With regard to the controversy occasioned by the pab«
'liaations. attributed to Rowley, it is unnecessary .to enter
. upon it, . although it has lately been attempted, to bere-
vived, but without exciting much interest. Whether the
object of .this controversy was not disproportiohisd: to the
^warmth it excited,, and the length of time it consumed,
. the reader may judge from a.perusal of the whole. of Chat-
iterton^s productions. The principal advocates for the ex-
.istence of Rowley, and the authenticity of his poera^, were
Mr. Bryant, Dean Milles, Dr. Glynn^ Mr. (uow Dr.)
* See a Note in tbe Biog. Britanniea, vol. IV. p. 588, iigned 0: wrU^ia hf .
Pr, Lort, but omitted ia the Life lately published.
C H A T T E R T O N. WS
Henley*, Dr. Langhoiti (in the Monthly Review), and
Mr. James Harris. Their opponents were Mr. Tyrwhitt,
Horace Walpole, the two Wartons, Dr. Johnson, Mr*
Steevens, Dr. Percy (bishop of Dromore), Mr. Gibbon,
Mr. Jones, Dr. Farmer, Mr. Colman, Mr. Sheridan *, Dr.
Lort, Mr. Astle, Mr. (sir Herbert) Croft*, Mr. Hayley *>
lord Camden, Mr. Gough, Mr. Mason, the writer of the
Critical Review, Mr. Badcock (in the Monthly Review),
the Reviewers in the Geotleman's Magazine, iand various
Correspondents in the same Miscellany. To these may be
added, Mr. Malone, who lived to detect another forgery
by a very young impostor, in the history of which the
reader will probably recollect many corresponding circum-*
stances ; and will be inclined to prefer the shame of Chat-
terton, fatal as it was, to the unblushing impudence and
unnatural fraud of one who brought disgrace and ruin on a
parent.
In 1803, an edition of Chatterton's works, far more
complete than any that had yet appeared, was published
under the care of Messrs. Southey and Cottle, for the
benefit of Mrs. Newton, Chafterton's sister (since dead),
and of her daughter ; but the coldness with which it was
received by the public is perhaps a proof that it will not be
possible to perpetuate the fame of an author, who has con-
cealed his best productions under the garb of a barbarous
language, which few will be at the trouble of learning.
The controversy is no longer interesting, and perhaps the
warmth with which so many great names engaged in it,
may hereafter be reckoned as surprising as the object
itself. ^
CHAUCER' (Jeffery or Geoffrey), styled the Father
of English. |)oetry, is one of whose birth and family nothing
has been decided. It has been contended on the one
hand, that he was of noble origin ; on the other, that he
descended from persons in trade. Even the meaning of
his name in French, Chaucitt\ a shoemaker^ has been
brought in evidence of a low origin, while the mention of
the name Chaucer, in several records, from the time of
•William the conqueror to that of Edward I. has been
thought sufficient to prove the contrary. Leland says he
was nohili toc9 natus ; but Speght, one of his early biogra«
* These gentlemen are the only survivors (1813) of this celebrated dijpvtc.
1 JobasoD and Cbalmers'ii English Poets, 1810.— Life in Biog. Brit. fcc.
Vot. IX, ' O
1S4 CHAUCER.
pbers, informs us,' that *•' in the opinion of some heralcfsy
he descended not of an)' great house, which they gather"
by his arms ;" and Mr. Tyrwhitt is inclined to believe the
heralds rather than Leiand. Speght, however, goes far-
ther, and makes his father a vintner, who died in 134^,
and left his property to the church of St. Mary Aldermary,
where he was buried. This is confirmed by Stowe, who
says, " Richard Chawcer, vintner, gare to that church his
tenement and tavern^ with the appurtenance, in the Royal-
streete the corner of Kerion-lane, and was there buriedjf
1348." But neither Stowe nor Speght afford any proof
that this Richard Chawcer was the father of our poet.
With respect to the place of his birth, we cannot [iro*
duce better authority than his own. In his " Testament
of Love," he calls himself a Londoner, and speaks of the
city of London as the place of his " kindly engendrure."
In spite of this evidence, however, . Leiand, who is more
than usually incorrect in his account of Chaucer, reports
him to have been born in Oxfordshire or Berkshire. The
time of his birth is, by general consent, fixed in the se-
cond year of Edward III. 1328, and the foundation of this
decision seems to have originally been an inscription on
his tomb, signifying that he died in 1400 at the age of
seventy-two. Collier fixes his death in 1440, but he is so
generally accurate, that this may be supposed an error of
the press. Phillips is more unpardonable ; for, contrary to
all evidence, he instances the reigns of Henry IV. V. and
VI. as thosejn which Chaucer flourished.
His biographers have provided him with education both
at Oxford and Cambridge, a circumstance which we know
occurred in the History of other scholars of that period, and.
is not therefore improbable. But in his " Court of Love,"
which was composed when he was about eighteen, he
speaks of himself under the name of " Philogenet, of Cam-
bridge, clei*k." Mr. Tyrwhitt, while he does not think
this a decisive proof that he was really educated at Cam-
bridge, is willing to admit it as a strong argument that he
was not educated at Oxford. Wood, in his AnnaU (vol. L
book I. 484.) gives a repdrt, or rather tradition, that
** when Wickliff was guardian or warden of Canterbury
college, be had to his pupil the famous poet called JefFry
Chaucer (father of Thomas Chaucer, of Ewelme in Ox-
fordshire, esq.) who following the steps of his master, re-
flected mach upon the corruptions of the clergy." This is
CHAUCER 195
something like evidence if it could be depended on ; at
least it is preferable to the conjecture of Leiand, who sup-
poses Chaucer to have been educated at Oxford^ merely
because he had before supposed that he was born either in
Oxfordshire or Berkshire^ Those who contend for Cam-
bridge as the place of his education^ fix upon Solere's
hall, which he has described in his story of the Miller of
Trompington ; but Solere^s hall is merely a corruption of
Soler hall^ i. e. a hall with an open gallery, or soUre win-*
dow *. The advocates for Oxford are inclined to place
him in Mertou college, because his contemporaries Strode
and Occleve were of that college. It is equally a matter
of conjecture that be was first educated at Cambridge, and
afterwards at Oxford. Wherever he studied, we have
suiEcient proofs of bis capacity and proficiency. He ap-
pears to have acquired a very great proportion of the
learning of his age, and became a master of its philosophy^
poetry, and such languages as formed the intercourse
between men of learning. Leiand says he was ^^ acuttcs
Dialecticus^ dulcis Rhetor ^ kpidus Poeta^ gravis Philosophus,
ingeniosus Matheinaticus^ dcnique sanctus Theologus^'* It is
equally probable that he courted the muses in those early
days, in which he is said to have been encouraged by
Cower, although there are some grounds for supposing
that his acquaintance with Gower was of a later date.
After leaving the university, we are told that he travelled
through France and the Netherlands, but the commence-
ment and conclusion of these travels are not specified. On
his return, he is said to have entered himself of the Middle
Temple, with,a view to study the municipal law, but even
this fact depends chiefly on a record*, without a date, whicfa^
Speght informs us, a Mr. Buckley had seen, where Jeffery
Chaucer was fined ^' two shillings for beating a Franciscans
frier in Fleet-street." Leiand speaks of his frequenting
the law colleges after his travels in France, and perhaps
before. Mr. Tyrwhitt doubts these travels in France, and
has indeed satisfactorily proved that Leland*s account of
Chaucer is full of inconsistencies — Leiand is certainly in-
consistent as tQ dates, but froqi the evidence Chaucer gave
in a case of chivalry, we have full proof of one journey in
France, although the precise period cannot be fixed.
^ Mr. Warton thinks that ^lere- circumstaiice to distingaish and deno-
hall wai Aula Solarii, the hall with the minat^ one of the academical hospitia,
upper story, at that time a sufficient Hitt. of Poetryi toI. I. p. 432^ note |k
02 ^
196 CHAUCER.
Whatever time these supposed employments might h^re
occupied, we discover, at length, with tolerable certainty,
that Chaucer betook himself to the life of a courtier, and
probably with all the accomplishments suited to his ad-
vancement in the court of a monarch who was magnificent
ID his establishment, and munificent in his patronage of
learning and gallantry. At what period of life he obtained
a situation here, is uncertain. The writer of the life
prefixed to Urry's edition supposes he was not more than
thirty, because his first employment was in quality of the
Icing's page j but the first authentic memorial, respecting
Chaucer at court, is the patent in Rymer, 41 Edward III.
by which that king grants him an annuity of twenty marks,
about 200/. of our money, by the title of Falettus noster *^
'< our yeoman," and this occurred when Chaucer was in
bis thirty-ninth year. Several mistakes have arisen re-»
specting these grants, from his biographers not under-
standing the meaning of the titles given to our poet.
Speght mentions a grant from king Edward four years
later than the above, in which Chaucer is styled valcttus
hospitii^ which he translates grome of the pallacey sinking
our author, Mr. Tyrwhitt observes, as much too low, as
his biographer in Urry's edition had raised him too high,
by translating the same words gentleman of the king^s privy
chamber. Valet or yeoman was, according to the same
acute scholiast, the intermediate rank between squier and
grorite.
It would be of more consequence to be able to deter-
mine what particular merits were rewarded by this royal
bounty. Mr. Tyrwhitt can find no proof, »;id no ground
for supposing that it wafbestowed on Chaucer for his poe-
tical talents, although it is. almost certain that he had
distinguished himself, as a poet, before this time. The
** Assemblee of Foules,'* the " Complaint of the Blacke
Knight,'* and the translation of the " Roman de la Rose,*'
were all composed before 1367, the sera which we are now
considering. What strengthens Mr. Tyrwhitt's opinion of
the king's indifference to Chaucer's poetry, is his appoint-
ing him, a few years after, to the office of comptroller of
* Mr. Ellis observes that this office, of iihich was acquired, together with
" by whatever name we translate it, the habits of chivalry, by passing ia
might be held even by persons of the gradation through the several menial
hrghest rank, because the only science oi&ces about the court." Eilis't Spe-
then in request among the nobility cimeni, T6l. I. p. 802.
was that of etiquette, the knowledge
C H A U C E E. 197
the custom of wool, with an injunction that ^ the said
Geffrey write with his own hand his rolls touching the said
office in his own proper person, and not by his substitute."
The inferences, however, which Mr. Tyrwbitt draws from
this fact, viz. " that his majesty was either jbotally insen-
sible of our author^s poetical talents, or at Iea$t had no
mind to encourage him in the cultivation or exercise of
them,"' savours rather too much of tbe conjectural spirit
which he professes to avoid. He allows that, notwith-
standing what be calls ^* the petrifying quality, with which
these Custom-house accounts might be expected to operate
upon Chaucer's genius,^' he probably wrote bis " House
of Fame*' while he was in that office. Still less candid to the
memory of Edward will these inferences appear, if we
apply modern notions of patronage to the subject ; for in
what manner could tbe king more honourably encourage
the genius of a poet, than by a civil employment which
rendered him easy in bis circumstances, and free from the
suspicious obligations of a pension or sinecure ?
Chaucer's biographers bave given some particulars of his
life, befor&the office just mentioned was conferred upon
him. He is said to bave been in constant attendance on
his majesty, and when tbe court was at Woodstock, re-
sided at a square stone house near tbe park gate, which
long retained the name of Chaucer's house ; and many of
the rural descriptions in his works, have been traced to
Woodstock park, the favourite scene of his walks and
studies. But besides his immediate office near the royal
person, he very early attached himself to the service of the
celebrated John of Gaunt, duke;, of Lancaster, and from
this connection his public life is to be dated. Tbe author
of tbe fife prefixed to Urry's edition observes, that the
duke's '^ ambition requiring all the assistance of learned
men to give it a plausibly appearance, induced him to do
Chaucer many good offices, in order to engage him in his
interest." But altlioucrb the assistance of learned men to
an ambitious state^lnan is very well understood in moderm
times, it is somewhat difficult to conceive' what advantage
could be derived from such assistance before the invention
of printing. It is more probable that tbe duke had a relish
for the talents and tast^ of Chaucer, and became his patroA
upon the most liberal grounds, altiuHigh Chaucer might
afterwards repay his favours by ejsposipg the conduct, of
200 CHAUCER.
When Richard II. succeeded hU grand fatbery he was
but eleven years of age, and his upcle the duke of Lan»
caster was consequently entrusted with the chief share in
the administration of public affairs. One of his 6rst plea-
sures was to solemnize the young king*s coronation with
great pomp, previously to which a court of claims was
e^stablished to settle the demands of those who pretended
to have a right to assist at the ceremony. Among these^
Chaucer claimed in right of his ward, who was possessed
of the manor of Billington in Kent; and this was held of
the crown, by the service of presenting to the king three
maple cups on the day of his coronation ; but this claim
was contested, and if it had not, is remote enough from the
kind of information which it would be desirable to obtain
respecting Chaucer. All we knov\ certainly of this period,
is, that the duke of Lancaster still preserved his friendship
for our poet, and probably was the means of the grants
just noticed having been renewed on the accession of the
young king.
Soon after this, however, Chaucer's biographers concur
in the fact that be experienced a very serious reverse in
bis affairs, which in the second year of liicbard II. were in '
mich disorder, that he was bbliged to have recourse to the
kmg's protection, in order to screen him from the impor«t
tuuities of his creditors. But as to the cause of this em-
)>arrassment, we find no agreement among those who have
attempted a narrative of his life. Some think his distresses
were temporary, and some that they were artificial* Among
the latter, the writer of his life in the Biographia Britan-
nica hazards a supposition which is at least ingenious. He
is of opinion that Chaucer about this time found out a rich
match for his son Thomas, namely, Maud, the second
daughter of sir John Burghershe ; and in order to obtain
this match, he was obliged to bring bis son somewhat upon
a level with her, by settling all his landed estates upon
him : and that this duty might occasion those demanda
which put him under the necessity of obtaining the king's
protection. The conclusion of the matter, according to .
ihis conjecture, must be, that Chaucer entailed his estates
vpoif his son, and found means to put off his creditors, a
measure not very honourable. But we are still in the daxk
as to the nature of those debts, or the existence of his
landed property, and it is even, doubtful whether this Tbo*
J
CHAUCER. 2OT
mft8 Chaueer was his son^. We know certainly of no 9on
but' Lewis^ who was born in 1381, twenty-one years %itm
his marriage, if the date of his marriage before giren b^
ctarect.
It appears from the historians of Richard JI. that the
duke of Lancaster, about the third or fourth year of that
monarches reign, began to decline in political influence, if
not in popularity, owing to the encouragement be had given
to the oelebi*ated reformer Wickiiffe, whom be supported
against the clergy, to whose power in state a&irs he had
long looked with a jealous eye. Chaucer^s works show
evidently that he concurred with the duke in his opinion of
the clergy, and have procured him to be ranked among
the few wbo paved the way for the reformation. Yel whea
the insurrection of Wat Tyler was imputed to the princi^
pies of the Wicklevites, the duke, it is said, withdrew bii
countenance from them, and disclaimed their tenets
Chaucer is likewise reported to have altered his sentiment!^
hut the fact, in neither case, is satisfactorily confirmed.
The duke of Lancaster condemned the doctrines of those
followers of Wickliff only, who had excited public disturb^-
ances ; and Chaucer was so far from abandoning his forf-
mer notions t, that in 1384, he exerted bis utmost intereot
in favour of John Combertpn, commonly called John of
Northampton, when about to be re*chosen mayor of Lonckm.
Comberton was a reformer on WicklifTs principles, and so
obnoxious on that account to the clergy, that they stirriod
up a commotion on his re-election, which the king was
* '< After reading, in the circum- sister to Catherine Rouet, who married
stantial accounts* of Chaucer's bio- a sir John Swynford, and was thefa*'
graph^re, that lie was married in 1360 Tourite mistress, and ultimatdy tiie
to Philippe Rouet, by whom he had wife, of the duke of X«anca«ter; aod
issue Thomas Chaucer and other chiU that Chaucer himself mentions no son
dren, we are surprised to learn that it but Lewis, whom he states to have
js dovtbtful whether Thomas Chancer been bom in 1^31, » date^ which seems
was his son; that the earliest Hnown to agree with tiie record above Q»en-
eridence of his marriage is a record of tioned, and to place the da|e of his
1381, in #hich he receives a haiC- marriage in 1380. '^ EUis't Specimeinsy
year's payment of an annuity of ten voL F. p, 20(^.
marks, granted by Edward III. to his f His biographers say he died a
wife as one of the maids of honour niember of the church of Rome. Fox
X'lofmalla'') lately in the servtee of claims him as a reformer. Aets arid
. qneen Philippa; that the name of Monuments, vol* II. p. 42, edit. 168^.
^ Fhilippa Rouet does not occur in the Dr. Warton (Essay on Pope) observes
litt of these maids of honour, but that tb«t Chaucer, as well as Oante* ai-
Chaucer's wife mAy possibly havie be^n serted Uiat the cliiircli of Rome was
Philippa Pykard \ that notwithstand- Antichrist, a notion Bossuet has taken
log this, his said wife was certainty much pains to refute.
202 CHAUCER.
obliged to quell by force. The consequence was, that
some lives were lost, Comberton was imprisoned, and strict
search tvas made after Chaucer, who contrived to escape
first to Hainault, then to France, and finally to Zealand.
The date of his flight has not been ascertained, but it was
no doubt upon this occasion that he lost his place in the
customs.
While in Zealand, he maintained some of his country-
men who had fled thither upon the same account, by
sharing the money he brought with him, an act of liberality
which soon exhausted his stock. In the mean time, the
partizans of his cause, whom he left at home, contrived to
make their peace, not only without endeavouring to pro--
cure a pardon for him, but without aiding him in his exile,
where he became greatly distressed for want of pecuniary
mipplies. Such ingratitude, we may suppose, gave him
more uneasiness than the consequences of it ; but it did
not lessen his courage, as he soon ventured to return to
England. On this he was discovered, and committed to
the Tower, where, after being treated with great rigour,
he was promised his pardon, if he would disclose all he
knew, and put it in the. power of government to restore tb^
peace of the city. His former resolution appears now to
have forsaken him, or, perhaps, indignation at the ungrate^
fat coi>duct of his associates induced him to think disclo-
•
sure a matter of indiflerence. It is certain that he complied
with the terms ofiered ; but we are not told what was thi^,
amount of his confession, or what the consequences of it
were to others, or who they were whom he informed against.
We know only that he obtained bis liberty, and that a|i
oppressive share of blame and obloquy followed. To alle-
viate his regret for this treatment, and partly to vindicate
his conduct, he now wrote the " Testament of Love ;'*
and although this piece, from want of dates, and obscurity
of style, is not sufficient to form a very satisfactory bio-
graphical document, it at least furnishes the preceding
account of his exile and return.
The decline of the duke of Lancaster's interest contri-
buted not a little to aggravate the distresses of our author,
and determined him to take leave of the court and its in-
trigues, and retire in pursuit of that happiness which his
years and habits of reflection demanded. With this view
it was necessary to dispose of those pensions which had
been bestowed upon him in the former reign. ; and whicb^
CHAUCER. 203
t)otwithstanding his espousing a cause not very acceptable
to the sovereign, had been continued to him in the present.
Accordingly in May 1388, he obtained his majesty's licence
to surrender his two grants of twenty marks each, in favour
of one John Sealby. After this he retired to his favourite
Woodstock; and, according to Speght, employed a part of
his time in revising and correcting his writings, and enjoy*
ing the calm pleasures of rural contemplation. It is thought
that the composition of_his " Canterbury Tales" was be-
gun about this time, 1389, when he was in the sixty-first
year of his age, and when, contrary to the usual progress
of mind, his powers seem to have been in their fullest
vigour*.
It was not long after this period that the duke of Lan«
caster resumed his influence at court; but whether Chaucer
was enabled to profit by this reverse, or whether he. had-
seen too much of political revolutions to induce him to
quit his retreat, his biographers are doubtful. It appear^
however, probable that the duke of Lancaster had it still
as much in his will as in his power to befriend him ; and it
might be owing to his grace's influence, that in 1389 we
find. him iclerk of the works at Westminster; and in the
following year at Windsor and other palaces: but Mr.
Tyrwhitt doubts whether these offices were sufficient to
indemnify him for the loss of his place in the customs^
In the " Testament of Love," he complains of ** being
berafte out of dignitie of office, in which he made a
gatheringe of worldly godes;" and in another place he
speaks of himself as '^once glorious in worldly welefulnesse,
and having such godes in welthe as maken men ricbe.^f
All this implies a very considerable reverse of fortune;
although Speght's tradition of his having been possessed of
*' lands and revenues to the yearly value almost of a thou*
sand pounds," remains utterly incredible.
But the king's favour did not end with the offices just
mentioned. In the seventeenth year of his reign,. 1394^
he granted to Chaucer a new annuity of twenty pounds;
in 1398, his protection for two years ; and in 1399, a. pipe
of wine annually. From the succeeding sovereign Henry
IV. he obtained, in the year last mentioned, a confirmation
* Chaucer'f fame rests chiefly on venty, and Chaucer before he finished
kis Canterbury Tales, and Dryden's what we hare of hU Tales was pro-
OQ his Fables, both written towards bably not much less.
fikB decline of life. I>ryden was se«
so* . C H A U C E R.
f»f bis two grants c^ 20/. and of the pipe of wine^ ^mi 9*
iiie same time an additional )grant of an annuity of fortj
narks. Notwithstanding this dependent state of his affairs,
some of his biographers represent him a? possessed of Dua«-
nington castle in Berkshire, which he must have purchased
At the time he received the above annuity of twenty pounds;
£ot up to that date (1394) it Was in the possession of Mt
Richard Abberbury. Mr. Tyrwhitt remarks that the tra-
ditioii which Evelyn notices in his Sylva^ of an oak in
DunningtoD park called Chaucer's oak, may be sufficiently
siecounted for, without supposing that it was plaoted by
Chaucer himself, as the castle was undoubtedly in the hands
of Thomas Chaucer for many years. During his retire-
ment in 1391, he wrote his learned treatise on the Astro-
labe, for the use of his son Lewis, wbo was then te^ years
old ; and thi^ is the only circumstance respecting bis family
ivhich we have on his own or any authority that deserves
credit. Leland, Bale, and Wood place this soti under the
tuition of his father's friend Nicholas Strode (whom^ how^-
«ver, they call Ralph) of Merton college, Oxford ; bat if
Wood could trace Strode no farther than the year 1370, it
18 impossible he could have been the tutor of Ciiaiicer's sob
in 1391.
The accounts we have of Chaucer's latter days are ex-
tremely inconsistent. His biographers bring bim from
Woodstock to Dunnington castle, and from that to LQQdon
to solicit a continuation of his annuities, in which he foun4
such difficulties as probably hastened his end. Wood, in
)iis Annals, informs us that although he did not repent at
the last of his reflections on the cler^, ^^ yet of that be
wrote of love and baudery, it grieved him much on his
death'^bed : £or one that lived shortly after his time, maketb
report^, that when he saw death approaching, be<iid often
cry out, ' Woe is me, woe is me, that I cannot recall and
anuuU those things which I have written of the base and
iilthy love of men towards women : but al^s ! they are now
icontinued from man to man, and I cannot do what I de<-
Mre\'' To this may be added, that the affecting lines
** Code Counsaile of Chaucer,'' are said to have been made
by him when on his death-bed, and in great aoguisb.
* Tb. Qagoai^e in 2 parte Die- s^ri Armig^eri, qm Thomas tepult i|k
tionar. Theolog. p. 377. MS. <* Fuit Nuhelm juxta OxoKki^m."
Idem Ckawserui pater Thorns Cfaaw-
CHAUCER. 305
It seems generally agreed that he died Oct 25^ 1400^
and was* buried in Westminster-abbey, in the great soath
cross-aile. The monument to his memory was erected
above a century and a half after his decease, by Nicholas
Brigham, a gentleman of Oxford, a poet, and warm ad«
mirer of our author. It stands at the north end of a mag-
nificent recess, formed by four obtuse foliaged arches, and
is a plain altar, with three quatrefoils, and the same num-^
her of shields. The inscription, and figures on the baek^
are almost obliterated.
Although Chftucer has been geneJrally hailed as the
founder of English poetry and literature, the extent of the
obligations which English poetry and literature owe to him
has not been decidedly ascertained. The improvement be
introduced in language and versification has been called in
question, not only by modern but by ancient critics* Th#
chief faults attributed to him, are the mixture of French in
all his works, and his ignorance of the laws of versifioa^
tion. With respect to the mixture of French words and
phrases in Chaucef s writings, it must be observed that the
French language was prevalent in this country several ceti-^
turies befofe his time. Even previously to the conquest,
the Normans had made it a fashion to speak French in the
English court, and from thence it would naturally be
adopted by the people ; but after the conquest this became
the case in a much greater proportion. It was a matter of
policy in the conqueror to introduce his own language, and
it would soon become a matter of interest in the people to
acquire it. We uniformly find that where new settleih»
appear, even without the superiority of conquerors, the
aborigines find it convenient to learn their language. The
history of king William's conquest and policy shows that
his language must soon extend over a kingdom which he
had parcelled out among his chiefs as the reward of their
valour and attachment. One step which he took, must
above all others have contributed to naturalize the French
language. He supplied all vacancies in the ecclesiastieal
establishnient with Norman clergy ; and if, with all this
influence, the French language did not universally prevail,
it must at least have interfered in a very considerable degree
with the use of the native tongue. At schools, French and
Latin were taught together in the reign of Edward III. aftd
it was usual to make the scholars construe their Latiti
lessons into French, a practice which must have greatly
200 CHAUCER.
retarded the progress of the native tongue towards reifine««
ment. Some check, indeed, appears to have been giveni
to this in the reign of the same sovereign ; but the pro-
<;eedings in parliament and the statutes continued to be
promulgated in French for a far longer period.
. These circumstances have been advanced to prove that
Chaucer ought not to be blamed for introducing words and
phrases with which his countrymen were familiar long be->
fore his time, and which they probably considered as ele-
gancies. If Chaucer was taught at school, as other youths
were, it is plain that he must have learned French while
he was learning his mother tongue, and was taught to give
a preference to the former by making it the vehicle of
translation.
The language, therefore, in use in Chaucer's dajs^
among the npper classes, and by all that would be thought,
learned, was a Norman-Saxon dialect, introduced by the,
influx and influence &f a court of foreigners, and spread
wherever that influence extended. Jourpej^s to France;
were also common, for thp purposes of improvement iii;
&ucb accomplishments as were then fashionable, and this,
kind of intercourse, which is always in favour of the country,
visited, would perhaps tend to introduce a still greater
proportion of French phraseology* But still the founda-
tion was laid at home, in the prevailing modes of edu-,
cation. With respect to the progress of this mixture, and ^
tb^ effects of the accessions which in the course of nearly
three centuries, the English language received from Nor-
mandy, the reader is referred to Mr. Tyrwhitt's very,
elaborate ^^ Essay on the Language and Versification of
Chaucer," prefixed to his edition of the ^^ Canterbury
Tales.'' It appears, upon the whole, that ^^ the language
of our ancestors was complete in all its parts, and had^
served them for the purposes of discourse, and even of
composition in various kinds, long before they had any in-
timate acquaintance with their French neighbours." They
had therefore " no call from necessity, and consequently no
sufficient inducement, to alter its original and radical con-
stitutions, or even its customary forms." ^ And accordingly^
notwithstanding the prevalence of the French from the
causes already assigned, it is proved by Mr. Tyrwhitt that
** in all the essential parts of speech, the characteristical
features of the Saxon idiom were always preserved ; and
the crowds of French words which from time to time were
CHAUCER. SOT
impol'ted, were themselves made subject, either imme-
diately, or by degrees, to the laws of that same idiom.^*
As to what English poetry owes to Chaucer, Dr. John-
son has pronounced him ^' the first of our versifiers who
wrote poetically," and Mr. Warton has proved " that ia
elevation and elegance, in harmony and perspicuity of
versification, he surpasses his predecessors in an infinite
proportion; that bis genius was universal, and adapted to
themes of unbounded variety ; that his merit was not less
in painting familiar manners with humour and propriety,
than in moving the passions, and in representing the beau*
tiful or the grand objects of nature with grace and sub-
limity. In a word, that he appeared with all the lustre
and dignity of a true poet, in an age which compelled him
to struggle with a barbarous language, and a national want
of taste ; and when to write verses at all, was regarded 2a
a singular qualification."
The Saxons had a species of writing which they called
poetry, but it did not consist of regular verses, nor was it
embelUshed by rhime. The Normans, it is generally
ttjiought, were the 6rst who introduced rhime or metr^
copied from the Latin rythmical verses, a bastard species,
•which belongs to the declining period of the Latin language.
To deduce the history of versification from the earliest
periods is impossible, for want of specimens. Two very
trifling ones only are extant before the time of Henry II.
namely, a few lines in the Saxon Chronicle upon the death
of William the Conqueror, and a short canticle, which,
according to Matthew Paris, the blessed virgin was pleased
to dictate to Godric, an hermit near Durham. In the time
of Henry II. Layamon, a priest, translated chiefly from
the French of Wace, a fabulous history of the Britons, en*
titled Le Brut, which Wace himself, about 1155, had
translated from the Latin of Geffry of Monmouth. In this
there are a number of short verses, of unequal lengths,
but exhibiting something like rhime. But so common w^n
it to write whatever was written, in French or Latin, that
another century must be passed over before we come to
another specimen of English poetry, if we except the Or-
mulum^, and a moral piece upon old age, &c. f noticed
* A paraphrase on the Gospel histories, written by one Orme or Ormin.
f A specimen of this is given in Dr. Johnson's latroduciion to bis Pic-
tiofiarf.
203 C H A U e E R.
by Mr. Tyrwbitt, and which hie conjectures to have beea
written earlier than the reign of Henry II.
Between the latter end of the reign of Henry HI. and
the time of Chaucer, the names of many English rhimer»
bave been recovered, and many more anonymous writers,
or rather translators of romances, flourished about this
period ; but they neither invented nor imported any im-
provements in the art of versification. Their labours, bow*
ever, are not to be under\'alued. Mr. Warton has very
justly remarked, that " the revival of learning in most
countries appears to have first owed its rise to translation.
At rude periods the modes of original thinking are un-
ktiown, and the arts of original composition bave not yet
been studied. The writers, therefore, of such periQds
aire chiefly and very usefully employed in importing the
ideas of other languages into their own." But, ad many
of these metrical romances were to be accompanied by
iDusic, they were less calculated for reading than reci-
tirtion.
These authors, whatever their merit, were the only
English poets, if the name may be used, when Chaucer
appeared, and the only circumstances under which he
found the poetry of his native tongue, were, that rbime
was established very generally ; that the metres in use were
principally the long Iambic, consisting of not more than
fifteen, nor less than fourteen syllables, and broken by a
caesura at the eighth syllable ; the Alexandrine metre, con-
sisting of not more than thirteen syllables, nor less thati
twelve, with & csesura at the sixth ; the octosyllable metre;
and the stanza of six verses, of which the first, second,
fourth and fifth were in complete octosyllable metre, and the
third and last catalectic, i, e. wanting a syllable, or even two.
Such were the precedents which a new poet might be
expected to follow. But Chaucer composed nothiiig in the
first or second of these four metres. In the fourth he wrote
only the Rhime of sir Thopas, which being intended to
ridicule the vulgar romances, seems to bave been pur-
posely written in their favourite metre. In the third, or octo-
syllable metre *, he wrote several of his compositions, par-
ticularly an imperfect translation of the Roman de la Rose^
* So oalled by Mr. TyrwhiU, (whoie althouc^ it &kaa oonsiits of nine, attd
opinioos aie chiefly followed oo this sometiimrs of ten vyilables, feheeigbUi
subject) from what he apprehends to is always the last accented syllable.
bave been its original form,' in wbicb.
CHAUCER, fOi
the Hoijse of Fame, the Detbe of the Duchesse Blanche^
and his Dreine, all wrhich are so superior to the versi6ca«
tioo of his cootemporaries and predecessors, as to establish
bis preeminence, and prove that the reformer of English
poetry had at length appeared.
But, the liiost considerable part of his works entitle him
to the honour of an inventor. They are written in the he^
roic metre, and there is no evidence of any English poet
having used it before him. He is not indeed to be cod<»
sidered as the inventor in the most extensive sense, as the
heroic metre had been cultivated by Dante, Petrarch, and
Boccace, bot he was the first to introduce it into his na**
tive language, in which it has been employed by every poet
of eminence) to the present day.
The age of Chaucer had little of what we now under-^
stand by refinement. The public shows and amusements
were splendid and sumptuous. They had all somewhat of
a dramatic air; at their tournaments and carousals the
principal pentonages acted parts, with some connection of
story, borrowed from the events, and conducted according
to the events and manners of chivalry. But the national
manners and habits were barbarous, unless where the re-
straints of religion repres^d public licentiousness ; and,
with respect to taste, the spectacles in which the hi^er
orders indulged^ were such as would not now be tolerated
perhaps even at a fair. What influence they had on pubhc
decency, it is difEcult to ascertain. la Chaucer's time
there was indeed no public^ because there was little or no-*
thing of that coipmunication of sentiment and feeling which
we owe to the invention of printing.
In such an age, it is the highest praise of Chaucer, that
he stood alone, the first poet who improved the art by
melody, fancy, ai>d sentiment, and the first writer, whe*
ther we consider, the quantity, quality, or variety of his
productions. It is supposed that many of his writings are
lost. What remain, however, and have been authenti-
cated with tolerable certainty, must have formed the oc«
cupatiou of a consiiterable part of his life, and been the
result of copious reading and reflection. Even his transla-^
tions are mixed with so great a portion of original mact^
auy it may be presumed, required time and study, and
ikio§/^ baf^ hours^ of inspiration, which are not always
within command. The principal, obstruction to the plea«
^ure we should otherwise derive fimn Chaiicer^a works, is
Vol. IX. P
.^*..
210 CHAUCER.
that profusion of allegory which pervades tbem^ particd*
larly the " Romaunt of the Rose," the " Court of Love,*'
** Flower and Leaf," and the " House of |*ame." Pope,
in the first edition of hid Temple of Fame, prefixed a note
in defence of allegorical poetry, the propriety of which
cannot be questioned,' but which is qualified with an ex-
ception which applies directly to Chaucer. ** The inci-
dents by which allegory is conveyed, should never be spun
too long, or too much clogged with trivial circumstances,
or little particularities." But this is exactly the case with
Chaucer, whose allegories are spun beyond all bounds,
and clogged with many trivial and unappropriate circum-
stances.
^ For upwards of seventy years after the death of Chau-
cer, his works remained in manuscript. Mr. Tyrwhitt
enumerates twenty-six manuscripts which he had an op*
portunity of consulting in the various public and private
libraries of London, Oxford, Cambridge, &c. but of all
these he is inclined to give credit to only five. Caxton,
the first English printer, selected Chaucer's " Canterbury
Tales," as one of the earliest productions of his press, but
happened to copy a very incorrect manuscript This first
edition is supposed by Mr. Ames to have been printed
in 1475 or 1476. There are only two complete copies
extant, one in his majesty's library, and another in that of
Merton-college, both without preface or advertisement.
About six years after, Caxton printed a second edition,
and in his preface apologized for the errors of the for-
mer. No perfect copy of this edition is known. Aoies
mentions an edtfion '^ collected by William Caxton, and
printed by Wynken de Worde, 1495, folio," but the
existence of this is doubtful. Pynson printed two edi«'
tions ; the first, it is conjectured, in 1491, and the
second in 1526, which was the first in which a collec-
tion of some other pieces of Chaucer was added to the.
Canterbury Tales. Ames notices editions in 1520 and
1522, but bad not seen them, nor are they now known.
In 1532 an edition was printed by Thomas Godfrey, and
edited by Mr. Thynne, which Mr. Tyrwhitt informs -us,
was considered, notwithstanding its nlany imperfections^ as
the standard edition, and was copied, not only by the
booksellers, in their several editions of 1542, 1546, 1555^
and 1561, but also by Mr. Speght, in 1597 and 1^0^.
Speght's edition was reprinted in 1687, and in 1721 ap*
CHAUCER. 211
peftred Mr. Urry's, who, while he professed to compare a
great many manuscripts, took such liberties with bis au-»
thorns text as to render this by far the worst edition ever
pubUshed*
There is an interleaved copy of Urry^s edition in the
British Museum, presented by Mr. William Thomas, a
brother of Dr. T. Thomas, who. furnished the preface and
glossary, and upon whom the charge of publishing devolved
after Mn Urry^s death. This copy has many manuscript
notes and corrections. From one of them we learn that the
life of Chaucer was very incorrectly drawn up by Mn Dart,
and corrected and enlarged by Mr. William Thomas ; and
from another, that bishop Atterbury prompted Urry to
this undertaking, but ^^ did by no means judge rightly of
Mr. Urry^s talents in this case, who though in many re-
spects a most worthy person, was not qualified for a work
of this nature.'^ Dr. Thomas undertook to publish it,, at
the rj^qoest of bishop Smalridge. In the Harleian collec*
tiop^is a copy of an agreement between William Brome>
executor to Urry, the dean and chapterjof Christ Churchy
and Bernard Lintot the bookseller. By this it appears
that it was Urry's intention to apply part of the. profits to«
waurds building Peckwater quadrangle. Lintot was to print
a thousand copies on small paper at iL lOs. and two hundred
and fifty on large paper at 2/. lOs, It does not appear
that this speculation succeeded. Yet the edition, from its
having been printed in the Roman letter, the copiousness
of the glossary, and the ornaments, &c. continued to be
the only one consulted, until the publication of the '* Can-
terbury Tales" by Mr. Tyrwhitt, in 1775. This very acute
critic was the first who endeavoured to riestore a pure text
by the collation of MSS. a labour of vast extent, but which
must be undertaken even to greater extent, before the
other works of Chaucer can be published in a manner
worthy of their author. Mr. Warton laments that Chaucer
has been so frequently considered as an old, rather than a
good poet ; and recommends the study of his works. Mr.
Tyrwhitt, since this advice was given, has undoubtedly
introduced Chaucer to a nearer intimacy with the learned
public, but it is not probable that he can ever be restojred
to popularity^. His language will still remain an insur-
laountable obstacle with that numerous class of readers to
whom poets must look for universal reputation. Poetry i^
p 2
«14 CHAUFEPIE.
the art of pleasing ; but pleasure, as generally understoodi
admits of very little that deserves the name of study. '
CHAUFEPIE (JaMRs G£OR<i}E D£), author of a very
useful Biographical Dictionary^ was descended from the
ancient and noble family of the Calfopedi of Floreace,
which removed into France under Francis I. At the revo-
cation of the edict of Nantz^ Samuel de Chaufepi^, the!
representative of the family, and protestant minister at
Couh6 in Poitou, was obliged to take refuge in Frieslaiid|
where he died pastor of the church of Leuwarden in 1704«
He had ten children by hia wife Maria Marboeuf de la
tlimbaudiere, of whom the subject of the present articles
Was the youngest, and born at Leuwarden, Nov. d, i702«
He was educated partly at Franeket, under professor An-
dala, as appears by his maintaining ati academical thesis
before that professor, in 1718, on ^Mnnate Ideas,*' and
probably about the same time, a second on ^' The punish^
ment of the Cross,^' >which was afterwards published in a
collection by Oerdes^ iti 1734. After being admitted int<»
the ministry, he preached for so^me time at Flushing, theft
at Delft, and lastly at Amsterdam, where he was pastor of
the Walloon churchy and where he died, highly respected
for piety and learning, and much lamented, July 3, i7a-6.
He was not more diligent in the discharge of his profes*"
sional functions^ than attached to studious researches, which
he pursued throughout the whole of his long life* In 1736
be published^ ^' Lettres sur divers sujets important de la
Religion/* 12aio$ and in 1746 prefixed a life or histo-^
Tical eulogium to the sermons of John Brutel de la Ri-^
viere. In 1756 he published three sermons, intended td
prove the truth of the Christian religion from the present
atate of the Jews ; and wrote an account of the life and
writings of our cielebrated poet Pope, which was prefixed
to a French translation of his works^ printed at Amsterdam
in 1758. He also translated from the Dutch an abridge-
ment, in question and answer, of the history of bis country;
and from the English, part of Shuckford*s works, with
additions, and several volumes of the '' Universal His-*
tory,'* which he improved very consideiubly, particularljr
in the history of Venice* This labour^ however, he discon**
tiqued in 1771, and does not appear after that to have
1 JohnsMi and Chalmers'i EnsHih Poets, ISlO.-^Biof. Brit — ^TjFrwkiti'f Cm-
terbary Talet.-*£UU't Speciment.— Wartoa's Hist, of Enslifh Pfletry; see
llidcx*
CHAUFEPIE. ai>
published any thing of consequence, confining himself to
fais pastoral duties, if we except bis *^ Life of Servetus,"
which in 1771 was translated into English, by James Yair,
minister of the Scots church at Campvere, and published
Sit London, 8vo. The chief object of it seems to be to
vindicate Calvin from the reproaches usually thrown upon
him for the share he had in the prosecution of Servetus ;
but some will probably think that he has at I^ast been
equally successful in throwing new and not very favourable
light on the conduct and principles of Servetus.
A selection of Chaufepie's ^* Sermons'' was published
after his death by his nephew and colleague in the church
at Amsterdam, Samuel de Chaufepi^. But the work which
gives him the best title to a place here, is his ^^ Nouveau
Dictionaire Historique et Critique pour servir de Supple-^
ment, ou de Continuation au Dictionaire de M. Pierre
Baylfe," Amsterdam, 1750 — 1756, 4 vols. fol. Theeditorg
of the French Diet. Historique, of 1804, messieurs Chau-»
don and Delandine, speak of this as an ill-digested work,
and say that the author, in continuing Bayle, has imitated,
him neither in his good nor his bad qualities, and that he
does >not interest his readers like the philosopher of Rot^
terdam, his style being inferior and incorrect. They
allow, however, that he respects religion, although hm
declaims sometimes against the Roman Catholics; and
they give due praise to his researches respecting the lite^
raiure of France, England, and Holland. That he de*
platms against the Roman catholics sometimes, is an ob«>.
jection very natural to the editors of the French dictionary^
but frequent recourse to Chaufepie^s work convinces us
that he speaks with impartiality, and engages as little as
possible with points of controversy. The work was origi*
nally intended as a supplement to Bayle, but various cir-
pumstances stated by the author in his preface, prevented
the booksellers from prosecuting this plan, and it may
father be considered as a new work, founded partly oft
Bayle, and partly on the English ^^ General Dictionary,**
)0 vols. fol. The new articles from the pen of Chaufepi6
jire in general accurate, and this work ought to be better
Itnown in this country, because, owing to the author's re-
ligious principles, less use has been made of it abroad than
it deserves. The English articles, although this circum-
stance is not perhaps of much importance here, are
more full than in any other work published on the Con-
214 C H A U F £ P I E.
tinent, and the additions the author has made not only to
them, but to Bayle's series, afford a very favourable idea of
the labour and research he must have employed. He ap-
pears to have been first applied to by the booksellers of
Amsterdam in 1739, and to have spent several years in
.preparing it for the press. With respect to the charge that
it is less interesting to readers than Bayle, we can only re-
mark that in proportion as any biographer follows Bayle,
he will render his work a tissue of interrupting impertinent
cies and crude sentiments. ^
CHAULIEU (William Anfreye de), was born at Fon-
tenay in Normaiid)f<' in 1639. His father, counsellor of
state at Rouen, placed him in the college de Navarre at
Paris, where he acquired a profound knowledge of the an-
cient authors, and contracted an intimacy with the duke de
Rochefoucault and the abb6 Marsillac, whose patronage he
acquired by his lively conversation and his various talents ;
and while he was countenanced by them, he formed an
acquaintance that had a great influence on his poetical
efforts. The duchess of Bouillon, a niece of cardinal Ma-<
zarin, was about to lay out a large garden, and for that pur-
pose thought it necessary to obtain a piece of ground be-
longing to the estate of the family of Chaulieu. The pofet,
mth much address, brought the treaty to effect agreeably
to the desires of the duchess, and thus acquired the favour
of a lady, who afterwards became the inspirer of his son-
nets. Her house was a temple of the muses ; she encou-
raged, rewarded, and inspired all such as shewed marks of
poetic genius ; and evinced a particular regard for Chau-
lieu. Through her he became known to the duke 'de
Yendome, a great friend of the muses, who, as grand prior
of France, presented him with a priorate on the isle of
OleroUj with an annual revenue of 28,000 livres. To this
were afterwards added the abbacies of Pouliers, Renes,
Aumale, and St. Stephen, the profits of which enabled him
to pass his life in ease ^nd affluence. ' The first thing by
which Chaulieu became known as a poet was a rondeau on
Benserade's translation of Ovid^s Metamorphoses. He
soon, found opportunities for appearing frequently before
the public ; and hi^ acquaintance with Chapelle determined
bim entirely for jovial poetry. Chaulieu was no poet by
profession ; he sung with the flask in his hand, and we ar^
\ Pict. Hist—- Chaiife^ie'9 preface.»-Sa]ui Qnomut
C H A U L I E U. 215
told that in the circle of genial friends he acquired those
delicate sentiments which render his poetry at once so na-
tural and so charming. The muses were the best comforts
of his age, as they had frequently been in his younger
years, when he was visited by the gout, the pains of which
he contrived to alleviate, by conversations with his friends
and the muses, and prolonged his life to a very advanced
age, dying in 1726, in his 81st year. He was extremely
desirous of becoming a member of the acadeipy of fine
arts ; and, on seeing another preferred to him, he took his
revenge by satirical attacks on the management of the in*
stitution. It was the perfect consonance of his life with
bis poems, that gave them the natural air for which they
have ever been so greatly admired. The philosophy of th^
graces, that animates his works, was also the rule of bis
life. But few of his poems were published during his life-
time, and those occasionally and detached ; the trouble of
collecting them he left to his friends after his death. The
first eaitions were very imperfect, till Camusac and St.
Marc took the pains to publish them in a completer coUec*
tion, 1750, 2 vols. 12mo. They consist of epistles in
verse, and letters in prose intermingled ^ith verses. Both
are characterised by an easy gaiety, agreeable pictures^
lively strokes, genuine wit, pleasing fictions, Epicurean
morality, or ^^ sagesse commode,'* as Saint Marc used to
call it, and a style varied as the subject requires. They
are not, however, without flat, incorrect, and puerile pas-
sages. His versification is flowing and harmonious, but
frequently faulty and contrary to the rules of speech, and
sometimes designedly negligent, in imitation of the simple
style of Marot. Some find great harmony in the continual
recurrence of the same rhymes, in which he followed Cba-
pelle, and is praised by Dubos; and Camusac thinks that
such verses are eminently adapted to music. Saint Marc,
on the other handj and the younger Racine, complain of
their monotony, and conceive that the beauty of them
consists solely in the conquest of greater difliculties, and
that the French language is not so poor in sonorous phrase-
ology as to stand in need of such a practice. Though the
letters of Chaulieu were all actually written, and mostly
directed to Bouillon, yet they are frequently interspersed
with ingenious fictions. Excepting that to the chevalier
3ouillon, the most remarkable letter is that addressed to
Di. UFarei aatbepoet> with great frankness, gives usiu
I
216 C H A U L N E a
I
it hi9 own portrait. — Chaalieu's odes arc not of the higher
species. *
CHAULNES (Albert duke de), a peer of France,
but more remarkable as an astronomer and mathematician,
w^s born at Paris Dec. 30, 1714. He soon discot^ered a
singular taste and genius for the sciences ; and in the tu-
mults of armies and camps, he cultivated mathematics,
^tronomy, mechanics, &c. He was named honorary-acade-
mician the 27th of February 1743, and few members were
more punctual in attending the meetings of that body, where
be often brought different constructions and corrections of in-!-
dtruments of astronomy, of dioptrics, and achromatic tele-
scopes. These researches were followed with a new paral-
lactic machine, more solid and convenient than those that
were in use ; as also with many reflections on the manner
of applying the micrometer to those telescopes, and of
measuring exactly the value of the pans of that instrument.
The duke of Chaulnes proposed many other works of the
same kind, which were interrupted by his death Sept. 23,
1769. ^
Several of his papers are published in the volumes of
Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences; particularly, !• Ob-
servations on some Experiments in the 4th part of the 24
book of Newton's Optics, an. 1755. 2. Observations ott
the Platform for dividing mathematical instruments, 1765;
3. Determination of the distance of Arcturus from the
Sun's limb, at the summer solstice, 1765. 4. On some
means of perfecting astronomical instruments, 1765.
5. Of some experiments relative to dioptrics, 1767. 6. The
art of dividing mathematical instruments, 1768. 7* Obser-
vations of the Transit of Venus, June 3, 1769; 1769.
8. New method of dividing mathematical and astronomical
instruments.^
CHAUNCY (Charles), an eminent nonconformist,
2|.nd great uncle to the historian of Hertfordshire, was the
fifth and youngest son of George Chauncy, esq. of Yard-
ley-bury and New-place in Hertfordshire, by Agnes, the
slaughter of Edward Welch, and widow of Edward Hum-
berstone^ and was born in 1592. He was educated at
Westminster school, from which he went to Trinity college,
Cambridge, where he was admitted to his several degrees,
1 Chattfepi^._Moreri.-*NiceroD.--01ivet'8 Hist, de )'AoBd<aii«.-^I>M!t Kifft^
* HuUoa's OicUonary.
C H A U N O Y. 217
(tUl he became bachelor of dmnity. His reputation for
learning was such as gained him the esteem and friendship
of the celebrated Dr. Usher^ archbishop of Armagh. In
consequence of his distinguished skill in Oriental litera-
ture, he was chosen, by the heads of bouses, Hebrew^ pro-
fessor; bat Dr. Williams, the vice-chancellop, preferring
a relation of his own, Mr. Chauncy resigned his preten*
Mens, and was appointed to the Greek professorship. He
was the author of the hriuficiq which is prefixed to Leigh*a
'* Critica Sacra'^ upon the New Testament. When Mr.
Chauncy quitted the university, he became vicar of Wai^
ilk Hertfordshire. Being of puritanical principles, he was
much offended with the <^ Book of Sports ;'' and opposed^
although with less reason, the railing in of the Communion
table. Besides this, he had the indiscretion to say in a
sermon, that idolatry was admitted into the church ; that
much Atheism, Popery, Arminianism, and Heresy had
crept into it ; and that the preaching of the gospel would
be suppresi>ed. Having by these things excited the indigo
nation of the ruling powers, he was questioned in the high
commission ; and the cause being referred, by order of
that court, to the determination of bis ordinary, he wafi
imprisoned, condemned in costs of suit, and obliged to
make a recantation ; which, as it had been extorted from*
him through, fear, lay heavy on his mind. He continued,
indeed, some years in his native country, and officiated at
Marston Lawrence, in the diocese of Peterborough ; but
at length retired to New England, where he made an
open acknowledgment of his crime in signing a recanta-
tion contrary to the dictates of his conscience. For some
conaiderable time succeeding his arrival at New England
in 1637, he assisted Mr. Reyner, the minister of that
place; after which he removed to a town at a^ little dis*-
tance, called ^ Scituate,'* where he continued twelve
years in the discharge of his pastoral office. When the
republican party became predominant in England, Mr*
Chauncy was invited, by his old parishioners at Ware, to
return back to his native country, and had thoughts of
complying, but was so earnestly pressed by the trustees of
Harvard college, in Cambridge, which then wanted a pre-
sident, to accept of the government of that society, that
be could not resist their solicitations. This event took
place in 1654^ and from that time to his death, which
happened on the 19th of February, 1671-2,. in the dOth
a^lS C H A U N C Y.
year of his age, Mr. Cbauncy continued with great repiita*
lion at the head of the college, discharging the duties of
his station with distinguished attention, diligence, and
ability. So high was the esteem in which he was held,
that when be bad resided about two years in Cambridge^
the cburch of that town, to whom he was united, and
among whom he preached, kept a whole day of thanksgiv-
ing to God, for the mercy they enjoyed in their connection
with him. Mr. Cbauncy, by his wife Catherine, whose
life was published, had six sons, all of whom were brought
up for the ministry. Isaac the eldest of them, became
pastor of a nonconformist society in London, and wrote
several treatises *. Mr. Charles Cbauncy had a number of
descendants, who long flourished both in Old and New
England. One of them was the late Dr. Cbauncy the phy*
sician, who died in 1777, well known for his skill and
taste in pictures, and for his choice collection of themi^
afterwards in the possession of his brother, Nathani^
Cbauncy, esq. of Castle*street, Leicester- fields, who died
in 1790.^
CHAUNCY (Maurice), whose name we find some-
times spelt Chamney, Chancy, and Channy, was a monk of
the Charter-house, London, and with many others of the
same order, was imprisoned in the reign of Henry VIIL
for refusing to own his supremacy. When the monastery
was dissolved, and several of his brethren executed in
1535, Cbauncy and a few others contrived to remain
unmolested partly in England and partly in Flanders, until
the accession of queen Mary, when they were replaced at
Shene near Richmond, a monastery formerly belonging to
the. Carthusians. On the queen's death, they were per-
mitted to go to Flanders, under Cbauncy, who was now
their prior. The unsettled state of the reformatiop there
obliged them to remove from Bruges to Doway, and from
* Hiis Isaac ChauDcy, attberesto- Ternment, that they left him, and he
-ration, was in poraestion of the rectory Itrft off preaching, and was succeeded
9i Wo«dborough in Wiltshire, and by the celebrated Dr. Watts, who knew
came afterwards to London, with a the business of the pulpit, and recalled
▼iew to practise physic, but was in- the congregation. Cbauncy was after-
dnced to accept a call from a dissent- wards appointed tutor of a dissenting
ing meeting, in which he preached for academy, which was afterwards oon-
fourteeu years, but being a bigotted ducted by Dr. Ridgley. He died Feb.
independent, be so tormented his hear- 28,1712. Calamy.
en with declamations on church go-
^ Biog. Brit. art. Henry Cbauncy .-—Qent. Mag. Tol. LX.—- NeaPs Biitory Of
Kew England, and of the Puritans.
' - J
J
t
. C H A U N C Y- • 219
> I.oiivain, where they remained until a bouse was
'•»^*=*<i for them at Nieuport, and there at length they
■' '^nf^d a settlement under the crown of Spain. Chaun*
However, died at Bruges July 15, 1581, highly re-
■ *vaed by those of his own order. Of his works one only
»- wurUi mentioning, entitled " Historia aliquot nostri
*-stM uii Martyrum, cum pia, tum lectu jucunda, nunquam
.iiiLc»iu.c typis excusa,** printed at Mentz, 1550, 4to,
*.»c.i curious copper-plates. This work, which is very
contains the epitaph of sir Thomas More, writtea
imself; the captivity and martyrdom of Fisher, bishop
Rochester; and the same of sir Thodnas More ; and of
r eminent persons, who were executed in Henry VIlI/s
::n. Wood mentions a second edition at Cologne in
' ^08, which we think we have seen. '•
CHAUNCY (Sir Henry), knt. author of the « Histori-
*^v\ -Antiquities of Hertfordshire,*' which bears a higher
price than any other topographical volume, was descended
from a family which came into England with William the
conqueror. He was bom in 1632, and had his grammati-*
cai education at Bishop's Stortford school, under Mr.
Thomas Leigh; and in 1647, was admitted in Gonvil and
Caius college in Cambridge. He removed, in 164^, to
the Middle-Temple; and in 1656, was called to the bar*.
In 1661, he was constituted a justice of peace for the
county of Hertford ; made one of the benchers of the Mid-
dle-Temple in 1675, and steward of the Burgh-court ia
Hertford; and likewise, in 1680^ appointed by charter,
recorder of that place. In 1681, he was elected reader of
the Middle-Temple ; and on the 4th of June, the same
year, received the honour of knighthood at Windsor^castle,
from king Charles IL He was chosen treasurer of the
Middle-Temple in 1685. On the 1 1th of June, 1688, be
was called to the degree of a serjeant at law, and the same
year advanced to be a Welsh judge, or one of his majesty's
justices for the counties of Glamorgan, Brecknock, and
Kadnor, in the principality of Wales. He married three
wives; 1. Jane, youngest daughter of Francis Flyer, of
Brent«Petham, in Hertfordshire, esq. by whom he bad
seven children. She died December 3 1 , 1672. S.Eliza-
-beth, the relict of John Goulsmith, of Stredset, in Norfolk,
esq one of the coheirs of Gregory Wood, of Risby, in
fSuffolk^ gent. By her he had no issue. She died Au*
I Ath. Ox, Tolrl.— Dodd'g Church History.— ^Tan'-
MO C H A U N C Y*
n4, 1677. 3. His third wife was Elissaibetb, the seeond
jbter of Nathaniel Thruston, of Hoxny, in Suffolk^ esq^
by whom he had two children. He died April 17199 and
May 1, was buried at Yardley-Bury. He published '^ The
llistotricat Antiquities of Hertfordshire," i700, fol. Tq
this work he left some additionsi which afterwards came
into the hands of Salmon, and were the foundation of hia
History of Hertfordshire. The first essay towards a deline*
ation of Hertfordshire was attempted by John Norden, i|i
bis *< Speculum Britannise/* published in 1593; but it ia
not to be compared, in point of compleatness and perfect
tion, with sir Henry Chauncy*s historical description. Sip
Henry^s digressions, however, are pedantic, and the work
would have admitted of greater care with respect to the
execution of the engravings. Mr. Forester, of Bradfield in
this county, father of Dr. Puher Forester, chancellor of
Lincoln, and a liear relation of sir Henry Cbauncy, had
made large additions to sir Henry^s book. The copy was
in the hands of the late William Forester, esq. who died
about 1767. Mr. Cole was possessed of another copy, witb
great manuscript additions by the late Browne Willis. A
third copy, with large additions, by Peter Le Neve,' is in
the library of the Society of Antiquaries. Two copies, with
copious additions in MS. were given by Mr. Gough to the
Bodleian Library. The rev. Dr. Paul Wright, vicar of
Oakley in Essex, and who formerly resided, as curate and
lecturer^ in the town of Hertford, having received some
manuscript papers relative to sir Henry Chuancy's work,
proposed to publish an accurate edition of it with continua**
tions to the present time, but this was never executed. A
new edition has lately been announced by Mr. Clutterbuck
of Watford, who has purchased the MS Collections of Mr.
Blore.»
CHAUSSE (Michael Akgelo pb la), a learned anti-
quary of Paris in the last century, went early in life to
Rome for the sake of studying antiquities ; and the same
taste that had led him to that famous city induced him to
mmain tfiere. His << Musasum Romanum,*' Rome, 1690,
firi. and augmented to 2 vols. foL in 1746, evinced the
anccess of his application. This valuable collection com*
prises a numerous succession of antique gems, which had
ttever befoM been given by impressioxi to the public, en-
1 Biog. Brit. — Cough's Topogrephy.-*-MS communication by Henry Ellia,
esq. respectii^ the 4st9 of bis 4estb, wkiok is grossly emu»«eu8 ia |be Biog. Brit^
C H A U S S E. ^t
graved on two hundred and eighteen plates. It has gone
through several editions. Craevius inserted part of it ia
his '^ Thesaurus Antiq. Romanorum." The same author
published at Rome a collection of engraved gems, entitled
' " Gemme aiiiiche figurate," Rome, 1700, 4to; and " Au**
reus Constanttni nummus, &c. explicatus,*' Rome, 170?^
4to. His last publication was *^ Le Pitture antit^he d^le
Grotte di Roma e del Sepolcro di Nasoui, &c/' the plat^
by Pietro Santo and Bartoli, Rome, 1706^ fql. ThesQ
different works present a great stock of erudition and sa*«
gacity, and are much consulted by the curious; we have
no account of the author*s death. *
CHAUSSEE. See NIVELLE.
CHAUVEAU (Francis), a painter, engraver, and de-
signer of great talents and industry, was born at Paris ia
1613, and died there in 1676. His first performances
were some engravings from the pictures of Laurence de la
Hire, who was his master ; but the liveliness of his ima?
gi nation not comporting with the tardiness of the gravhig
tool, he began to delineate his own thought in aquafortis*
If his works have not the delicacy and mellowness that dis->
tingttish the engravings of some other artists, yet he threw
into them all the fire, all. the force and sentiment of which
his art is susceptible. He worked with surprising facility.
Bis children used to read to him after supper the passages
of history he intended to draw* He instantly seized the
most striking part of the subject, traced the design of it
on the plate of copper, with the point of his graver ; and,
before he went to bed, fitted it for being corroded by the
aquafortis the nes^t day, while he employed himself in
engraving or drawing something else. He supplied not
only painters and sculptors with designs, but also carvers
and goldsmiths, jewellers and embroiderers, and even joinr
ers and smiths. Besides 4000 pieces engraved by his
hand, and 1400 executed from his designs, he painted
several small pictures, which were much admired, and
many of them were purchased hy Le Brun. The multitude
of works on which he was ei^loyed brought their author^
to hia faoaae^ and their frequient meetings and conversa**
dons there terminated ita ibe establishment of the Frencii
academy. He was adtnit^d .into the royal academy of
painting and sculpture in.l663» and obtained a p^n^ion foe
22fl C H A U V E A U.
engraving the plates of the Carousal. His stnall platen^
Mr. Strutt says, are executed in a style much resembling
that of Le Clerc, founded upon -that of Callot. In his
large prints he approaches near to that coarse, dark style^
which was adopted by bis tutor, La Hire. Among the sets
of prints executed from his own compositions, are those
for the ** Bible History ;" the " History of Greece ;" the
"^Metamorphosis of Benserade ;" the " Jerusalem of Ta«—
so ;" the /* Fables of La Fontaine ;" " Alaric," or « Rome
conquered ;^' and several romances. Among the prints en*
graved from other masters are, ** Christ with the Aisciples
at Emmaus," from Titian ; a " Concert," from Dominichino 5
the " Life of St Bruno," from Le Sueur; "Apollo and
Daphne," from N. Poussin ; " A Virgin and Child, with
St. John and Kttle Angels," finely etched, and finished
with much taste; and " Meleager presenting the Head of
the Boar to Atalanta." With all his talents and bme^
Perrault assures us thatiie was a man of great modesty. '
CHAUVEAU (Rene), son of the foregdng, was bom
in 1663, and followed the footsteps of his father. Like
him, he had an admirable facility in inventing subjects and
in embellishing them,' and a variety and ingenious turn ia
the disposition of his figures ; but he particularly distin*
guished himself as a sculptor. He worked for Louis XI V«
and for several foreign princes. The marquis de Torci was
the last that employed him, at his chateau de Sabl& This
nobleman hkving asked him what wages he would have by
the day ? Chauveau, provoked at the question, which he
thought degrading, abruptly quitted both his .work and
employer, and came to Paris, where he died in 1722, at
the age of fifty-nine, from the fatigue of the journey, in
addition to the vexation he suffered from having changed
his money into bank notes. *
CHAUVIN (Stephen)^ a protestant clergyman, was
bprn at Nismes in 1640, and being obliged to leave his
country upon the revocation of the^edict of Nantes, went
to Rotterdam, and afterwards to Berlin, where he became
professor of philosophy. He died in 1725 at the age of
eighty-five. He published, 1. A ^^ Lexicon philosophiciim,**
Rotterdam, 1692, fol. and at Leuwarden, nvSj wid^ platen '
2. A new '* Journal des S^avans,'' begun in 1694 at Rot-
terdam, and continued at Berlin, but less estieemed tl|a«
t Moreri.— Diet. HiBt.«.P«nattlt les ttOMUl lllMSlrw*
■ Moien«^Dict. Hwt.
C fl A U V 1 N, 2«S
t^e '^ Histoire des Ouvrages des S^avans'* by Basnage, who
on the continent was considered as a better writer, and a
man of more taste. ^
CHAZELLES (John Matthew de), a French matbe*
tician and engineer, was born at Lyons July 24, 1657,
and educated there in the college of Jesuits, from whence
he removed to Paris in 1675. He first made an acquaint^
ance with du Hamel, secretary to the academy of sciences ;
who, observing his genius to lie strongly towards astronomy,
presented him to Cassini. Cassini took him with him to
the observatory, and employed him under him, where he
made a very rapid progress in the science. In 1683, the
academy carried on the great work of the meridian to the
north and south, begun in 1670, and Cassini having the
southern quarter assigned him, took in the assistance of
Chazelles. In 1684, the duke of Montemart engaged
Chazelles to teach him mathematics, and the year after
procured him the preferment of hydrography-professor for
the gallies of Marseilles, where he set up a school for
young pilots designed to serve on board the gallies. la
1686, the gallies made four little campaigns, or rather four
courses, for exercise, during which Chazelles always went
on board, kept his school on the sea, and shewed the
practice of what he taught He likewists made a great
many geometrical and astronomical observations, which
enabled him to draw a new map of the coast of Provence.
In 1687 and 1688 he made two other sea campaigns, and
drew a great many plans* of ports, roads, towns, and forts,
which were so much prized as to be lodged with the
ministers of state. At the beginning of the war which
ended, with the peace of Ryswick, Chazelles and some
mari]\e o;fficers fancied the gallies might be so contrived as
to live upon the ocean, and might serve to tow the men of
war when the wind failed, or proved contrary ; and also
help to secure the coast of France upon the ocean. He
was sent to the western coasts in July 1689 to prove this
scheme; and in 1690 fifteen' Rallies, new-built, set sail
from Rochefort, cruised as far as Torbay in England,
and proved serviceable at the descent upon Tinmouth.
Here he perfonned the functions of an engineer, and
shewed the courage of a soldier. The general officers he
served under declaimed that when they sent him to take a
S2« C H A Z E L jL- E S-
Yieir of any post of the enemy, tbey could rely entirely
upop his inteliigenoe. The gallies, after their expeditiqn^
came to the mouth of the Seine into the ba^sonfi of Havro
de Grace and Honfleur; but could not winter because it
was necessary to empty the»e basK>ni several tim^s, to pre-*
vent the stagnation and stench of the water. He proposed,
to carry them to Rohan ; aod though all the pilots were
against him, objecting insuperable difficultie99 b^ sue*
ceeded in the undertaking* While he was at Rob^n he
digested into order the observations which he had made oa
the coasts, and drew distinct mapis, with a portulan t9
them, viz. a large description of every haven, of the
depth, the tides, the dangers and advantages discovered^
&c. which were inserted in the *^ Neptune Fran9ois," pubr
lished in 1692, in which year he was engineer at the
descent at Oneille. In i^93 M. de Pontchartrain, theft
secretary of state for the marine, and afterwards chanceL*
lor of France, resolved to get the ^^ Neptune Frau^oia^*
carried on to a second volume, which was also to include
.the Mediterraneaa. Cbazelles desired that be might have
a yearns voyage in this sea, for making astronomical ob*
servations ; and, the request being granted, be passed by
Greece, Egypt, aud the other parts of Turkey, with bis
quadrant an4 telescope in his hand. When he was ia
£g¥pt he measured the pyramids, and found that the four
aides of the largest lay precisely againat the four quarters
of the world. Now as it is highly probable that this eicact
position to east, west, north, and south, was designed
3000 years ago by those that raised this vast atru^ture, it
follows, that, during so long an interval, there h^ been
DO alteration in thefiituation of the heavens ; or, that the.
poles of the earth and the meridians have all along coor
tiaued the sanoe. He likewiae made a. report of his voyage
in the Levant, and gave tlie academy all the satisfaction
they wanted concerning the position of Alexandria : upoo
whieh he was made a member of the academy in 1695.
Cbazelles died Jan. 16, 1710, of a malignant fever. He
was a very extraordinajy and uaeful man ; and, betides hia
great geniua and attainments, was also remarkable for hia
moral and religioiis endowments. ^
CHEFFONTAINES (Ghiustopher}, in Latin, a Capite
FaQtiuaiy . a learned divine, fifty-fifth general of the oor-
> Eloge by f oatcneUe.^'-^ortri.^-^ultoii't Diet
C H E F f 0 *» t A I N E S. fi*
ahd mti^ht tmiiyj 9thd born in 16r32V H« ^^ HtiJilair
ad^clfbis&ojp Of CsAskredi to ei^et'ci^e ^ efibtopal offid^ iil
tbe dfb^ese of S^^risy ifi the ^hi^iit^ of OArdlbftI dd Pdev&
if^cli^nta^ £6, 1595, 1^ Rod«f, leatifig ikev^iral tfa^o«^
^effl li^rks; aM6tig tb^m, << D^ ifece^&rii The6t6gi2d
SciioUitlcit ttjfh^tiicnie/* Parts, 15^6,' 8y5. Of^hicbbib-
^i^gr^ph^ri iritis iHi tor b^ careful ihat tbd Kaf itiAtktd E
be jHyi WtftMihg, 6f is iv6t ffom ^nofk^f b66Ic^ it being fre-
^ti^ntl^ Wktititi^. rie iVrot^ ^1^ a tdlnik^ Against ditels^
^tftitlfea •* Cdfrftffatibn itf Potrft iTHortneilr/' 1579, 8V0,
d«<f " I>^ Vit-ginitafe Mariite et Josepbi," 1578, 8Va,- &c.
JDttpt^ hm a v^ Ibtlg artitle on <7beffontaines. Re ap-
p6uti Wirne b^en 'H iMLh of great leatniiig, And tinddr-
^d6d A± htngdig^s besides his natite Bi& Breton. >
CHE'KE fSfii J6ftK), a Jeai^fied Writer of the ^Hietiiih
6€miiff^ Ai^heii&ei irotH ^ti itticmi fdriiily in the Isie o^
Wiglft, w^ bd^h Hi CMnbrld^, Jmi« 16, 15^4, being th6
9dti 6f P6teY Cbeke, gi^ht. and AgnM, daughter of Mr.
Itiiftciti of CaiViMidgedhird. Aft^ rdctif itig bis ^ramnra^
t^fi e&haitidn (ihd«r Mr. Jdhn Mbrgan, he was adrtiitt^d
ifib S9t. 5dhti'i tane^ii, mtthriA^Hi itt lidf, where he
hecim^ fery ^lAeM fbt hM kn6itiedg^ in the learned
"KWgtfage^, ptfrtieutetly the Greek tongiley whifch wafti then
sCf j^ost unfliWttidtJr Aegleet^. 6eib^ fi^cdnolc^e^ded as sttcb,
BV Dt nitHiy to Kirfg Hehfj VlII. he ^trAs soOn »fiet made
lfni<**s scbohli-, *nd ^uppifed by his tfitogesty i^ montjr
f^f ''Ms ediicittioh,' l^nd fof bisr ch&rges in trarellj^g inttif
folYstgn 6tmArriei WhiK he cblfitihu^d in coltg^6' h6 ifr*^
fn^dCid^dt it more ^ttb'sta^fi&l khd t^^'ful Kind of IdLrningf
A^ti wb^i hkd Efe^n re<^«iVed f^ sorfi6 y^xth ; imd ^hcew«'
A^dd ^dciflH tfae Md'dy of thdi Oi*^^ And LAtin tin's
^Mig^, arMf df dS^Ihity. After having' tak^n bis degree!
ill arts be was chosen Greek lecturer of the university.
Tber^ was no salary .belonging no that place: but king
. Miiffy HAvthl fternnd^d^ ibotit the year 1540, a pfof^stlor*
smp of tbe bxeek bhgue in the university of Cambridge^
¥m i t/dpitid bf forty potinds ayear^ Mr. Cheke, fhougb
^ut MUntf-^k f^rf at ag^, wis choifen thfe:first jirofessoi
ThiA place he heli long after he ieit the university, namelyj
tilt pfiitMt 1^51, Arid t^Aisr highly im^triA^ntAl in btin^nf
tbe GreeK language into repu*ie. fite endieavouredi parti*
Vot. IX. Q
S26
C H E K E.
cularly to reform and restore the original pronunciation of
it) but met with great opposition from Stephen Gardiner,
bishop of Wincht^ster, chancellor of the university^ and
their correspondence, on the subject was published. Cheke»
bpweyer, in the course of his lectures, went through all
Homer, all Euripides, part of Herodotus, and through
Sophocles twice, to. the advantage of his hearers and bis
own credit He was also at the same time university-
orator. About the year 1 543 he was incorporated ipastet
of arts at Oxford, where he had studied some time. Oq
the 10th of July 1544 he was sent for to court, in order to
be school- master, or tutor, for the Latin tongue, jointly
with sir Anthony Cooke, to prince Edward : and, about
the same time, as an encouragemeiikt, the king granted
him, being then, as it is supposed, in orders, one of the
canonries in his new-founded college at Oxford, now Christ
Church ; but that college being dissolved in the beginning
of 1545, a pension was allowed him- in the room of bis
canon^ry. While he was entrusted with the prince's edu-
cation, he made use of all the interest he had in promoting
men of learning and probity. He seems also to have,
sometimes had the lady Elizabeth under his care. In
1547, he married Mary, daughter of Richard Hill, Ser-
jeant of the wine-cellar to king Henry VIII. When his
royal pupil* king Edward VI. came to the crown, he re-
warded him for his care and pains with an annuity of one^
hundred marks; and also made him a grant of several
lands and manors *, He likewise caused liim, by a man-
damus, to be elected provost of King^s college, Cambridge, ,
vacant by the deprivation of George Day, bishop of Chi-.
Chester. In May 1 549, he retired to Cambridge, upon
some disgust he had taken at the court, but was the same,
summer appointed one of the king^s commissioners for vi«.
■ * Id 1548 be granted to him and
Walter Moyle^ iht very advanta^reou*
purcttaM of the cckllege of St. John
Baptist of Stoke, near Clare, in Suffolk,
and likewise all the messuageg, tene-
ments, &c. with the appurtenances
belonging to the college of Corpus
Cbristi, in the paritih of St. Laurence
Poultney; London, lately dissolved ;
together with divers other lands and
tenements in 'the counties of Suffolk^
Devon, Kent, and in London ; for the
f um of 958/. 3s. 5d, ob, a good penny-
wortii, undoubtedly, as Mr. Strype ob-
serves. The next year he obtained the
house and site of the late priory oT
Spalding in the county of Lincoln, the
manor of Hunden in the same county. *
and divers other lands and tenenlelks'
in the counties of Lincoln and Suffalk^
to the yearly value of 118/. lid*, q. and
no rent reserved. As we bear no more
of church preferments given to him, it
seems doubtful whether he ever was in
orders, and it is certain that the ca«
nonrj of Christ Cburch> mentioned ia
the text, might have been held by a
layman at that time.
G H fi K Ei 327
Siting that university. The October following, he was one
of the thirty-two .commissioners appointed to examine then
old ecclesiastical law-books^ and to compile from thence a
body of ecclesiastical laws for the government of thb
church ; and again, three years after, he was put in a new
commission issued out for the same purpose. He returned
to. court in. the winter of 1 549, but met there with great
uneasiness on . account of some offence given by his wife
to Anne, duchess of- Somerset, whose dependent she was.
Mr. Cheke himself was not exempt from trouble, being o^
the number of those who were charged with having sug-
gested bad counsels to the duke of Somerset, and after-
wards betrayed him. But having recovered from these
imputations, his interest and authority daily increased, and
he. became the liberal patron of religious and learned men,
both English and foreigners. In 1550 he was made chie£
gentleman of the king's privy -chamber, whose tutor hm
still continued to be, and who made sv wonderful progress
through, his instructions. Mr. Cheke, to ground him well
in niorality, read to him Cicero's philosophical works, and
Aristotle's Ethics ; but what was of greater importance, in-
structed him in the general history, the state and interest,
the laws and customs of England. He likewise directed
him to keep a diary of all the remarkable occurrences that
happened, to which, probably, we are indebted for the
king's Journal (printed from the original in the Cottoniaa
Lbrary) in Burnett's History of the reformation. In Octo-
ber, 1551, his majesty conferred on him the honour of
knighthood ; and to enable hiuh the better to support that
rank, made him a grant, or gift in fee simple (upon
consideration of his surrender of the hundred marks above^
mentioned), of the. whole manor of Stoke, near Clare, ex-
clusively of the college before granted him, and the ap-
purtenauces in Suffolk and Essex, with divers other lands^
tenements, &c. all to the yearly value of 145/. \9s. 3d.
And a pasture,, with other premises, in Spalding; and the
rectory, and odier premises, in Sandon. The same year
he held two private conferences with some other learned
persons upon the subject of the sacrament, or transubstan-
tiation. The first on November the 25th, in secretary
Cecil's hbuse, and the second December sd the same year,
at sir Richard Morison's. The auditors were, the lord
Rwssel, sir Thomas Wroth of the bed-chamber, sir An-
thony Cooke, one of the king's tutors, Throgmorton,
a 2
^
V
d^^ C H E K fi.
atttriV^rfeih df ttit tecli^^c]^, Mr..Kn6!te^, rfnd MA m*^
flngrtoii, \^hh Whcnh ^6ife ^omed tfefe l»ar^(5tftS tf Ndrthafcm^^^
ttorf, afirrf <he^ eari of Hntlknd, ift^ the >ec(^(f ^oii'^^jrto^.
The pbnish disputantjr f6r the ferf p^6s*h6fe #6^^, F^cKm-
fiaiW, aftert^ards dctfn of St. PatA'i, and T6flg ; and at the?
rf6doridf dispfdtation, WatsCiW. The ditsp'uta^Wtt 6ri th6 dtHtnt
tftrfe w^re, Sr John Chefc6, sff WHlftam GecIFy H^rtf, dfea^
«^ Ddtiatn', Whitehead, atfef GrJndAf. Sbtn^ actoufnt 6P
tfr^^e dfeputatt<rt» is irtilT ext^irt W La<fft, iW tlic li»M^ rf
]if SS. Belonging id B6n6*t 66flege,- GitnbrMg^ ; irtS from
tli^rt'c^ ^uljfeherf iit Eti'gliA by Mr; Stry^^ in hi* riYt€W4ti%
Life of ^if Joh'rf Ctr€ke. Sh- Jdbn aflsey pi»6etfr^ B\i'(ft^"'af
SfSS. ^d the flfdstifityus* LtefKto Js valrfAte coIfe6'ti6rtf fcf
ifhe' king*^ ftb'^ai^y j but! dthtif <y«rtrig fa rfi* Jobtf^i ttrliW¥-
toUi^iy di tlhfdirgk ^ottte othei' accidertt; *ey iieieit ttXi^&3^
rfteiT desT!inati6n'. Four volume?s df thi^ 66Wectionsr wei^
gi^en' hy h% ^tin I*ehVy €hete, to ftuutj^hvey Pui'efoy, es^-
<yn6 of queen EH2fdbfeth*s c56unc?l 'M the nbr th,- whos* sohy-
TB6ttas^ Piirefoy, 6f Barwdl m LeicestWiMrt, ga*%£hett
t?6' the fatiibu^ intiqtrity, WHKadfi Hoftotf^ ifnf »« 1^ ; ihd' htf
mide' itstd of ihent i* biff deictipthti 6t LeiiesfeWMflE?.-
Many yejtfS after, fie pnresenrterf tWife ft) <hd Bo^leSfth' B-
braiy srt Ox:f6rd, wftete the?y nov* j^ie, SoflAe^otfrtr ^ thi^
c6ft6(itiot\^, acftif C^e^rf d^a*,^ e*me iWto- th* hands 6#
William tefff Paget; ^nd sir Wffliath CecfJ; The (Wi^tttf!
df tfi^' " It?rt6rkry,^^ M fi'^e yMxh^ 4io^ 19 fti tbte Bod^
letdti^ UbVaryr dutf t^<y volnmes of eollfectiotii', xeMifng^y
Afitairi, s^e in the 6ott6niatf.
Mr; Chefre fcein^ it CanWWid^' « tBe ^^aimtfehc*«eii#
in 15^^ 2, disptttedr thii*e agAihsl Je^tis Cfiriilfrf lofcrf descfeii*
ihW heir. 0\i rbfe 2ith'6f Atign^tj th^ ^i«n<i y^^y he ^te»
made cfratnb^rlain' of the' ekcheqir^r fdr Bfe ; aAtf ?n I i 55^
cotistittited clerk o^ tSife' coiiiitil j atttf, ^bori aftidr; 6m of
th6 ^cr6td/ies' of sta!tie; afnd a prtVy-'cburi^ribf. I* JHWjr
the sa'Tii^ yedr, the MiVg granted to him, aftd Mjh«i's»ABllW,'
the hdtioMT 6t ^I'are in Suffoffi, wfeh diver* oft?ey hen*,- tA
tfre ^eiri;^ va1Vi6 of ott^= h^indred pCmrtdb. EHs 2ieal fdf HWf-
protesta'nti refigM^ imfdeed Mm' to at^pfove Af tW4 slrtilei
riient 6f the croMrn upon* the ludfy Jdtte Grey? a^d- 1««
acted, but for a very short tinie, as stecretary to h^f atttf
hfer council ^fVer kin^ Edwalrd^s defeeas^, for *««*/ hpdti
queen Mary'3 afccessibn t!6 the thtonfe, hi Wa* ^bUim1fte#
to the Tovirer*, and edi indictitterit drivftt i4^ igalifist 1M%
the 12th ok* r3^h of August. Tht^ yeAr ftHfewi'Aif, afteY fitf
.^f {^di^f Md rft*4 M e^pl^n^d ^o %w sojipp Gij^ik
:^^it t^p ^^vipg p/jGqqded the pgpi^J) ;z;eplftJUJ w^ Cng\afl,d, Ijtfs
yrbp^jP f^ist^t^ was jcqnfi^oQJied ,to the jQueen's usej, upd^r
,V^*y4- 8W« Wy fie^oced ii) circufl^Uqc^^^ h^ was fpxfi^
49 J;^d ft Pfift^k-l^ftture fit Sti^^rg^ |br>is^ub^i?t^^9.
Ig.Jtl^ Jl^eg^ipiug 9f .the y^efir J 55^^ J^ wife bemg .c^^e
cjfl firj^^s^?, fejp reswjly.ed, Jpfeifefty WQ^i * trefcAefpws ;\nyji^.
.^^p b^ jT^cj^A^jBd J5«^^i?fi^ ioi:^ P^j^t and ^ jQbi)# Ji^sj^ip,
•«> fi9 M^kS^f S^ M^ 'b^ cQ^mnUpd ^XxflXogy, in Avbj^di '
¥ffde»^ftl«i^ *#t j^j^^^y^ .^n^ b^ug JpQdYj?^ by %; ^^Jfj.
w,«fiB. Fgr, fey^r4«r pf Jmas Pbjbp ^' W^ yf^Y'M^ .^Sfe
^ May, jxnbflrsp^, l^^j^dfoWed, |?flW, apd^fivp jintO(a
H^SBW^ fiWtV^#4 Jtj? tbe aftaf^tbarbpj^^,j^v^t on .l^qjr^.a
#^«P b^ iW«s pppiw.tted closj? pr^oyer. % ^0Q^ fopod
}JI»t ^)W ?»^9§ P». ?fiP9W^ ^ W Jtl^ilk^,; # .^9. W .t}je
iflij^eo^ c^^np vHif^re /jent tp tbe f 9wer |o /^de|i^TOwr.Jp
;;fqQl^qUe bi^^ vV> tfee pW^^ ^f .I^W^> tbonjg^ .yitbout #gf-
cess. But tbe desire of gaining so great a man, induced
the queen to send to him Dr. Fecbenham, d«an oi 8t Ptttfrs,
^ pijan pf ^ mi9djer9.te tejp»per, ^^n^ with wbp|p !?=e ^ad b^^nt
Aoqiifiiji^ed in 4he late reiga. This maA's arj^i^meiite being .
infoi;c^d by the dreadful alternative, " either copiply, or
JftMfiR*" sir J^obp's fr;»iUy w»s uo% able to ji^ijbbsitand Ui^epi.
He was, therefore, at his pwn desire, carried before cardi-
nal Pole, who grayrfy advised bim to return tp thp .uoity
ct fehe«httvch : and in this dilemma of £ear and perplexity,
he endeavoured to escape .by drawing up ^ pstper^ ep^^iift-
ing of quotation; ^HJ^ pi the fathers tbatt »&^0^d W .(LPmM*
^
^50 CHE K E.
nance transubstantiation, representing thetn as his-owti
opinion, and hoping th&t would suffice to jMrocure bim his
liberty, without any other public declarations of bis change.
This paper be sent to cardinal Pole, with a letter dated
July 15, in which he desired him to spare him from making
an open recantation ; but that being refused, he wrote a
letter to the queen the same day,^ in which he declared bis
' readiness to obey her laws, and other orders of religion.
After this, he made his solemn submission before the car-
dinal, suing to be absolved, and received into the bosond
of the Roman catholic church ; which was granted faim ks
H great favour. But still he was forced to make a public
recantation before the queen, on the 4th of October, and
another long one before the whole court ; and submitted to
. whatever penances should be enjoined him by the pope^
legate, i. e. the cardinal. After all these mortificatiohs,
his lands were restored to him, but upon condition of ah
exchange with the queen for others*. The papists, by
way of triumph over him and the protestants, obliged iiim
to keep company generally with cathofitis- and even to be
'present at the examinations and convictions of tbose^tbey
called heretics. But his remorse, and iextreme vexation
for what he had done, sat so heavy upon hrs mind, that
pining away with shame and regret, he drW September 13,
1557 y aged forty- three, at his friend Mr. Peter Osb<Mttd's
house, in Wood-street, London^ and wasburied vA ^t, AJ-
ban's chlirch there, irr the north chapel of the ch6ir, the
16th of 'September. A stone was set afterwards over bis
grave, with an inscrrprionf. He left three; sons; Johniand
Ed^td, the two youngest, died without issfue; Henry,
the eldest, was secretary to the council iti the north, uiid
' knighted by queen Elizabeth : he died about the year
1586. Thomas, his eldest son' and heir, was knighted by
• ,- . ■ • . ' • •
* upon hiB sarrenderioK tbe lands ** Docstripae Icimen Cbecus, vitseqjie
laentioned, t|ie queen granted. hinii magister,
April 13, 1556, the reversion of the Anriefa tfaturse fabrica, tnorte jaeet!
'jpsanor of Brampton-Abbot in Devdn- Non erat d multis nous, sed praeetitit
• ffbiref and the annual rents ni 3^L Qs. unus
6d, ohf and the reversion of customary Omnibus, et pai'trise flos erat ille suae.
landa of Freshford, and Wood wick, in Geinma Britanna fuit, tnm Bapintn
- Somenetsbire jibe capital messuage pf . nulla tulerunt
Batokysb^roiigh ; the manor of Ays- Tempora thesaurum, tempora nulla
cote; and the manor of Nortblode, in ferent^
the same county; tKe manor of More - tangbaine and ^ood f^ve-tlie ftnk
in Devonshire; and some oUier things, verse somewhat differently :
^ It was composed by bis learned '* JDocirinsB Cbecus linguseque utrlus-
IN^Dd Dr. Walter Haddon^ que toagisten''
C H £ K E. 231
<J$ines I. H^' ptir€;iia8ed tbe seat' of Pyrgo near Romford
in Essex/ where he and his posterity were settled several
year^. He was buried March 25, 1659) in St Alban^s,
Wood-street, ue^tr his grandfather. Sii* Thomases second
son, Thomas, commonly known by the name of colonel
Cheke, inherked the estate, and was lieutenant of the
Tower in. the reigns of Charles 11. and James II. This
Thomas had two sons, Henry, who died young, and Ed-
ward, who sQcceeded him in his estates. Edward dying in
1707, left two sons; but they died both under age; and
the estate devoWed to Edward's younger sister Atine, wife
of sir Thomas Tipjring of Oxfordshire, bart. who left only
two daughters, whereof Catherine, the youngest, was mar-
ri^ to Thomas Archer of Underslalde in Warwickshire,
«sq. the late possessor of tbe Essex estate of the Chekes. ^
Aft to bis character, he was justly accounted one of the
best and most learned men of his age^ and a singular orn?^
ment to his country. He was one of the revivers of polite
literature in England^ and a great loVer and encourager of.
ihe Greek language in particular. The authors h^ chiefly
admiredand reeommended were Demosthenes, Xenophon,
Plato, Anslptle, isocrates, and Cicero. He was very haJ3py
in imitating' tbe ancient and best writers, and discovered
-great judgment ia translating -them. In the orthography
and pconuskeiation of the Latin and Greek knguages, he
was Tery critical, and exact; and also took great pawns' to
correct, regulate, and improve the English tongue; but his
notions on ^his subject were rather capfictods, and nev^r
Jbiave been adopted. He was a steady adherent to the re-
formed religion, and extremely beneiceirt, charitable, and
<ommanicative. His unhappy fall is indeed a great ble-
mish to his memory, and a memorable -Example of htiman
frailty. With regard to bis {lenson, he had a full comely
couotehance, somewhat red, with a yellow large beard ;
and, as far as can be judged by his picture, he was tall
and well made.
His works are: 1. A Latin translation of two of St.
Cbrysostom's Homilies, never before published, *' Contra
^bservatores novilunii;" and ** De dormientibus in Chris-^
to,'' London, 1543, 4to. 2. A Latin translation oF si±
homilies of tbe same father, ^* De Fato," and ** Providentja
Dei/' Lond. 1547, 3. " The hart of Sedition, how ^riev-
4nis it is .to . a commonwealth/' The running title is,
^' The true subject to tbe rebel." It was pubKi^ed in
lH9fan oc^^/op of ^Iif^ |9siiiTep«igMi ibf BfTonfltine and,
Norfolk; wd ^^si^^ b^iag ioscu'ted ia HotinthodVOhrb-
picle, under th^ yteftr 15499 .Wft$ r^rittted in 1576^ as ^
^gLSQuahle di^P^^Sle i^pon .9pprel^eoaiQii«of.tiiiiiiiltb from
malcontents ^ iiooie, or roq^g^does aiifQad. fiv. Gerard
)L^ng^aine of Q^e^i^'^ ^Ql).eg4^, Oxod^ cauaed it.toi>e re*
printed figain about I64I9 fojr the jnse ^ad. consideratiefi of
ttiQsp i^ho took frmg 9gainaA iCliarl^ I. in the ume 4if tke
c^vi) warf , ^jad pr^£;(ed ito it a short )^ of tha z^it/dust.
4f, A La^n tra^fil^iM^ jof th^ Knglish <^43ioniniiimQii-hook )*'.
doji^e ^or Jii^ vm^ pf M* 9w&^, mi pt ioted amoBg Bacerls
<^ Op^pi^ AipgiAca^n^.'^ iS. >^ iXe ^idu doGUuia^ «t isano*-
ti$|^i Th^plpgi xli9fiii9i Mur^iui Buceri, /&c. EpistcAss
dw^/VLpftd. 154^1, «ta, pmi^ in Bttceft's f/SeiijptaAaglU
caoi.^ jd^ ^1^ Piy?t$ jMt ^pififidiaiB aq tbe dcaEh b€ phat
l^rp^d xoan. ^« ^< G«i^^n keroicntOf or Epiiapbkn, in
4Atonj^]ia Jiev^i^m fs^mmnm wum/^ Loud. 410. Tlus
4)r Api^Qify Oepi^y .wi(# pi9^J9aUy of j^t. Jofain'^a college in
Cambridge) ^ad # )$«r9Qd 0K|lo : aftefiwan^ he beceme 4Miie
f^ ^ gn^!^m§n iPf Ibe pjf JFy cb^fubear, and ffrooBi c^f 4^
9tpli? to Kei^igr y>m. ^d imfi of tbe^^XMsuarti of bia wiH.
iipp^V iJc^. poM^iog i^ di$f mba 00 tiM ^}act with
P^ii4Ui€yr, 6a§it, If; 5 5, «9;9. ». *> ^^ Bupmtid^ ad m^
gpm {{aaricwn*'^ Tbif di^OQiMne an sUpaiatitiiMi twaa 4q)iiMm
19 ior >i^g He^ry^s iM^a, ia oijder io aaoiate tbat pnnoe^aa
)^p^^ tisfyf9i$itm of MVgiajn. tt is «n;itten ia T^evy aiew
1^^ La^iPf 9Qd .wifs pr«fii;<eid by tba JM^tbo^) ^^ dadica^
p.on jtp ^ ^tift ^r^siatiAa ol bis, ctf Plutarcdti^s iiock hi ^^
{i^stition. A <r<i|>y fol tbia dtfcojifse, in m|i>uifttopt, is ftttU
j^^^irirad An tfo/^ libirary pi pnimersiiy college, Oxcmi^ ««h.
TJipiM^ly Mnrit|t^ff> «q4 bound ;up in cjatb of s^etj aibicfa
w4^s i^ jprobublf } th^ ii; was tbe vety book 4hat wa§ f>re^
^f 9jted tp |;be Hng. An Eng^ifh kramliutioo (sf it, doaa by
'i(^^ Vj^n^.^d W' S<lf tQb, ^meriy fi^lbiiv ctf >th»t college, waa
pubiisfaed by Mr. Strype, at the end of bis Life of .iii J<dm
Cbej^. 9. Seviar^d ^^ JUetters^' of his are pubfisfaad in the
Life jpst npi^r oj^Q^a^, aiid^^tia Hanlngtao^s ^^^^fai^
a^^lia^V 'upd p^rtops in Other places. 18. A latiii Mroa-
l^ioQ of 4^p))hbi9bop Cjeanftier's book on the LordW ^Supper,
^as also done by ^ir 4obl» £lbek^,'aiid panted in 1 SS3; 4 !•
pe ii^^wif^ ^MAlalied i*i.eo de apparatu belliao,^' 9aaii,
V^Sjf, Svo. StirypQ giyes also a long cal;alo^e of hts unpab-
U^l^ ^f iti|^% jjirbi^ are^^ndiaU^l^^ "* ' '^ ^^^-^-^^
iC H E K £L ' tn
torn <^ber lefyrned men jof liU tkne^ pjart^csafeiiy Smitib,
£iv^l, and Aftobani) vrcote a yery bit and beanifciCul band, f
£;H£l-8iiM <iAii£3), D. D. a laarned divine «if ithe
duii^xif £ii§^d, jiras honn ahoul 1740 in WesttrnxM^,
nod edttotfed atWestmiiister school, oq bishop Wiiik^tasfA
found^ation. FjBotaliiatsGfafiipliifivafitloiSit. John's i^oUc^ .
.Catshriilge, but did notcQBtinue long Abene ; as Dr. f reiiul»
one of ibe.caopnfiof Ghciat church, gaare bio; a jiUidootship
in thafc celabraied eoilege. iiere be jreaided for many
y^esu^ taking his master's degree ^n 1762, thiMt of fa^cbdbr
tf)f ib^ky.in 11772, and that of D. Dv in 1793, it has been
§Bfid he wa^lbr some time udber at Westminater sobooU
h^ this is doubtful. At OKfeord be ester^ into ocden ifi
U65r, and wauy {irefented to Ifae college .curacy of Latbbiiry
fiear I^etvpoct Pc^n^l, and to the benefice of Badger in
fihrfipsfaine,. i^ Isaac iiaw|ans Pioin^e, esq. His oliher
and chief preferment, was the rectory of Dcoxford in
HaaipRhftfe, given hioi by Dr. North, bislpp of Winchester,
jfhose xhaplain he ^^. His leanning vKas eacteiisiye ; and
bii manoei's, ith/q|igh somewbal^ aansfiec^, onere jretamMibie.
Badibealth, hoiMeyer, erected an UAoqual Aoair «f spirits,
iidiiol)>inj^iised the powovs of jbirauiid towards the cibse gf
bis liJfe. He died ' in 1 iO 1 , and was b&9^d at fimkfond.
Besides soiQe f ogilsve pieees twathout his oame, and a Sw
aocaaifieai sesmons, he «nr«te one of the ai>l^t seiti^ tof
.^-jleiViacks 4HI Cibboa^s. Soman History/^ 1992, 8 vo, .i^hioli
jCihboo having noticed' iaa; ooMleaiytaoMs jmanner, Br.
^helsum ftosw^sed himini a '^ilepiyto ]|4^. Gifabonfs VJodic
^catioo,^ 1 7«5,4Mro. Tlie best edkioo of bis ^ Remarks'*' was
the second, puUlisfaed in mn^y inuoh enlarged. Dr. Chel«
iHim |B also supposed tp have had a share in the coUeotiooi ^
■^ fOifen puhmhed at O&lbed under the tkAe of ^ QUa
fiodnda," and' to have pufaliAed^an ^ Essay on the ijUstorjr
of Mae7^tinto.-^ As an amatenii''of the >fiae ^rts^ he made h.
attlnajiie •coUeolaon of pripts and gems^ .especiaily TassieVi
imitations, to ^whom be was an eaiiy and zealous patKoq/^ •
^CHSAlililAIA <TiM0w.8O«[), ^ a odebvated Fvendi
preacher, 47V(as bom at Pans Jati.-S, 16)52, and entered tfa^
fooiety of Jei^ihs in 1667, wbei'e he n^ade a consideraUe
^u«e, and afitenjwards -taught classical literatore and rhe-
toric at Orleans: but his talents being psculiarly oalei»-
< . . ' * *
> Life by Strype, 1705, 8ro.— Biog. Brit.— Ath. Ox. vol. I.— Wood's Aonalf
hf Gutcb. — Strype>i Life of Qrffi^XAj^mx.-^^ryftt'M Parker, p. S3,
• GeaL Mag* ^ot LXXI. p. 1 176, thd LXtll. 9.. 100. 293.
M4 C H E M I N A I S.
iaied for the pulpit, he became one of the most popnlat
preachers of his time in the churches of Paris. It became
the fashion to say that Bourdaioue was the Corneille, and
Cbemii>ais the Racine of preachers ; but his fame was
eclipsed by the superior merit of Massillon. When on ac«
xoant of his bealUi^ he was obliged to desbt from his public
.senricets he went every Sunday, as long as he was able,
to die country to instruct and exhort the poor. Hie (tied
in the flower of bis age Sept. 15, 168r9. Bretonneau, an^^
•Aier preacher of note, published his ^^ Sermons'* in 1690,
•^vols. 12mo, which were often reprinted, and Bretonneau
J added a third volume, but the fourth and fifth, whieh ap**
Speared in 1729, 'were neither written by Cheminais, nor
edited by Bretonneau. The only other production of Che*-
minaiswas his/< Sentimens de Piet^," 1691, 12mo, but it
is; said be had a turn for poetry, and wrote some verses of
the Hghter kind. ^
. CHEMNITZ (Mautin), an eminent LutiieraTt divine,
and ooe of the reformers in Germany, was born at Britzenr,
a town in the marquis£M:e of Brandenburg, in 1522. His
father was a> poor wool*Gomber, who found it difficult to
.give him much educatioi)^ but his son's industry, supplied
the want in a great measure.. After having learned the
, mdinients of literature in a school neat home,, he went to
Magdeburg,^ where he made some progress in arts and lan»-
goages. Then he removed to^ Francfort upon the Oder,
to cultivate philosophy iunder hia relation George Sabinus';
•and to Wittenburg, whete he ^adied under Philip Melanc-
tbon. Afterwards he became .a^ schooUmaster in Prussia;
and, in 1552, was made librarian tortbe prince. He now
:devoted himself wholly to the study of divinity, though he
was a considerable mathematician, and skilled particularly
in astronormy. Aften he bad continued in the court of
.Prussia three years, he returned to the university of Wit*
temberg, and lived in friendship with Melaactbon, who
employed him in reading the common-plaoes.< From thence
be removed to Brunswick, where he spent, the last thirty
years of his life as pastor, and commenced D« D. at Ros^
iock. He died April 8, 1586. His principal works are^
I. '^Haurmonia Evaugeliorum," Francfort, 1583 and 1622i,
Geneva^ .1628, 4to. 2. ^^ Examen Cpncilii Tridentini.^'
3. ^^ A treatise against the Jesuits," wherein he explained
1 Moreii.— Picf. Hist.
C H E M N I T Z. 23S
to the Germans the doctrines and policy of those crafty
devisers, &c. His •* Examination of the Council of Trent*'
has always been reckoned a very masterly performance,
and was translated and published in English, 1582, 4to.
Chemnitz, according to Thuanus and many others, was
a man of great parts, learning, judgment, and of equal
modesty ; and was very much esteemed by the princes of
bis own communion, who often made use of him in the
public affairs of the, church. Some protestant writers have
not scrupled to rank him next to even Luther himself, xor
the services he did in promoting the reformation, and ex«
posing the errors of the church of Rome. Blount has an'
ample collection of these encomiums. His son of the same
names, who was born at Brunswick Oct 15, 1561, studied
at Leipsic and Francfort, and became successively syndic
of the council of Brunswick, professor of law at Rostock,
' chancellor and counsellor at Stettin, and lastly chancellor
>t Sleswick, where he died Aug. 26, 1627. He wrote
several works, and among them *^ Historia Navigationis
Indiae Orientalis.*' ^
CHEMNITZ (BoGESLAUs Philip), grandson of the
preceding Chemnitz, the reformer, was born at Stettia
May 9, 1605, and after completing his education, served
in the army, first in Holland, and afterwards in Sweden,
where his merit raised him from the rank of captain to that
of counsellor of state, and historiographer of Sweden.
Queen Christina also granted him letters of nobility, with
the estate of Holstsedt in that country, where he died in
1678. He wrote, in six books, an account of the wai:
carried on by the Swedes in Germany, which was published
in 2 vols, folio, the first at Stettin in 164S, and the second
at Holme in 1653; the whole in the German language:
the second volume is most highly esteemed, owing to the
assistance the author received from count Oxenstiern.
The abb^ Lenglet mentions a Latin edition, at least of the
first volume, entitled '< Bellum Germanicum ab ejus ortii
anno 1612, ad mortem Gustavi Adoiphi anno 1632.**
Chemnit:^ is also said to be the author of ** De ratione Sta*
tus Imperii Romaoo-Germanici/' which was published at
Stettin in 1640, under the sissumed name of Hyppolitus a
Lapide. Its object is to impugn the claims of the house
1 Melchior Adam id vitis Theolog.— Freheri TheatruoL— Fuller's Abel R^di-
«ifui»<— Saxii OiMauit.—$louiit's Ctntunu— Morari. '
9ifi
C^EfAfil J ^.
ui^er.Uie fi4e.Qf ?* I)^? Jjj^pt^ 4^ PWRe? d'AJte'p^ve,"
Jsite ^' J17^?^ .uu(Je^r rk^ tit^ ^9^ A'X^s y^^? i^^^ffif^ RP
CJt^e^QH)^ ^ p^Mitex ii? iftofiwej^ Mf tWe \owff of Me^^ i^fts
)t>.prj^|it V^v^ in J,6^J|, ?^ti;dfs4 VRflpr Ji^ ^#^/> fin4 ftt
l^^ Brpn in f 67$ pj;^^eju.^ ^^ pofh^.^o^iy o/ppiutiifg
P0i?.t;ry^ find ipu^ic. §he di^w ,Qn ,a l^g^ ^^^e 9 gr^ ^ujpg-
*Pjr 9/ g^j^s, .^ ^oxY in ,ja^i^l^ she pfi:t^cuj^}y.e^{f;^5^.
These pictures were no less admirable for f Sfiff^ ^t^ )n
^drawing, ^ smgji^lar ^go^of apd qf l^P^i, ^ :fy^ ?^lf of
;PSi#mgj W»9^ a sup^^ior j^dgjpf nt jjj ^t^^ cJ^Wi^^jcxi^.
T^.^ ^B,rfpm WiWH^erp ip p»i«tmg y^W? ?U favvilj^r Jp ^.
$|a^ ,e;^:i:eUpd iij Jiit^ory, ?# pajr^^^lc^pi^, m faipi^ijr^ ii^
fl[V^s, ipjpftrtraj^ JPW"?tiPS, ^^ fi^^c^llf v;^ ^9^ ^9* jl^"
flialgsi. It ^s ^^id ittg^t sh^ ire<|!ji^tLy jBj^ecHte;^ fll^e poir^r^ifs
,pf ftbsi^nt pepqt^s, we;;^ry fr cw ^^e^wcu-y, tp w]^\di ,sbe
^^ ptr^ng ^ i^^pss ,^ if ij^ip per?pc|^ ii^^ ^t ffi |i^r.
^CiSLd.ejwy qf ^ic^^yrati fit P^(^iyi ^9P^wei^ fi^ m\if thg^p
i^^^e of fl^o^ aM9 p^fC her ;a jpl^q^ in tb,^if ^qj^ty, ^
j^i^dat }?aria, ^e^. ?, jL7i,i/^jttb(5 a^g^ of (53, jvypy^^
^Jft^er i^hie h^h^ep iod|i9eid i9 WW ¥• ?^?^ R^y> r^i^JgV^^r
IP t^e i^mg, , whj9 j^is^ ^sp *4v^i;ip^d Vf y^^^- S^ru^t ^m
jjh^ ,de^ig^ed; tl?j;ee ^pr^ ftp^^ by bpi;?^^ yjz. :p?iQfi^ips
j)9ppi|es. Sbe ^ft ^^gr^^d ^ ".fte^q^t from tb^ Cyp^,**
iM^4 * ,*^ Drawipg-iipqV con^J^tipg pf 36 pript^ i^ fqlio,^ .
jir9^l¥>W .?* l??ria ip jl§,6p; jjiwj bf YNM bfi?^ . t^VSftJ J*P
jrttdiqae^^tjs ff{ t^p^rjt in bis ,Q,^n fcyjnjry^ Jje trav^HspJiP
Italy, wbere his sister supplied him with a competency, to
1 MorerU*-Dtct Hut
.9 P4lkui9feOD.^]yAiieAvim, vol. IV^ ftwrtt^
£^ing hi^ cominiMi^iin IMy, fa<f made tlie W6rkii of Ite-
ptaaef! am) Jul!6^ R^yiA^tfo the |>rificipaf object of Iri^ sitdteiS,
bjr iirhicll Ms :l^utufe coMp^ittoHis had alwaj^ ar 0«i^tain tfhf
dfttfe alnfti^qt^, th(yi!i^h fife hatf dcf grdat ]^o^iol^ 6f gfraee^
and hii^ fl^cfrefe iv*?re fre^qdenffy to^6 mfustufUr. Ti^6 6f hiif
pk%6rea( are in ifa^ chof eh 6f Notice Dlnk^, M P^}§ ; tb^
6t^y of n6r6dt^ holffiryg th^ cUatg«f^ li^idk tb« he&d of St.
Jo^n tb^ Baptwi! ; the other,> of Agabtis foY^^lHrfg tte per-
^eatioti. of St. ^stdl. Or/ seccouRt of hii feUgioiii' b^iiig a^
CiOVihfsir, hie wa^ dotnpelfed t6^ cfilit his i!i^«h^^ e^fifry,
and i^iYed ih London, tMe hap/py tetreale of tf» disnr^ssed
.dfiHTi^ ; and iXi^k he foMd vtiMy pa^roifs. tfnybiig the to--
8iH^ iM gerVtf/y, plttticuKrfy tfte diA« of MAntagcw, for
#I]f6o(k' ]f>6 fiMd^ih^ eavttttWof (tie GddBj tii^ J^dgmiant
cKVifis, and b^ iVas also employed ^ Btif'teigh ^f»d Cfaats;^
^'crftfi ;• but ffmJiiTg fiini^etf *cBf>s*d by Bitwise, RO«ife««tf,'
^nSrd La Fo^s^, Vi tbttHmtcid paitttiirg ^iMi iri^rleat
fiiieH. fii^ mM prdR)ciV[^ erhphyHimty Iftywet^, was
ddsij^htiir^ fdt pimir^ and ei^Mve^, lifid M^ dV^Mritlg^
Wire 6y loc^ pif^ifeif fed to bb pdinttn^. R^ e1l$c)y(fed peroral
6f hft ow^n desigH attrf in particnfer, a ier^dt ^nty-twd
*fiaH prints for the Kfe of Dtfrid, Wtb Which Oiffatt^ if
IfcokseHer af Pirf is, ornamehte'd ^ Frt'rfdi edHlioVi irf «fce'
Pfeilrtis' ptiblistifed in 11 n^. fStfHtt A6li6es' iflsb t^6 ^if-
f f atiil]^^ ^h^cb: he exe6nted frditi Mi' o^n dedl^Asv of ^ea^
ta*te, **'Thtf Deatft of Anantas' and Saf^Mr^" AAd « 8t.
rm ba'pti8i%' ih6 Etoncfc" Hirf ^rf^tfe etiav^ftter Wft^
ei^eeltenrt. He died in tilJy of in dpoplexy^ kt bis Kftl^
ifi^ fh the fti^za,' GoVeAt-gai^dehv and f^is' fcWried irt the?
ADrcfb of ll^t. I^aifl'^ cl^r6& in tb^t parifsh. He h^d f^owe
tlAe heidife sold hi^ drdMii^ frotn Rd^ely Md hh aoa^
ddray figAresi to &i^' ^art of D^rby^ M a bfrge iutA Of
money. *
CttE-SELBTEW ^WiiLl^aM), Ati feni?A*ttt Wii^oh aJnd
Aattomist, an^d ^etflebrafed Writer, #as hditi Oci. 19) ftMy '
af BtrrroW-6tf-tbi6-HilL neaf SOrtrOifby irf Leicest^tshire.
Aftfer haf^i% tcfcei^ed a classic^ edO^Aiony aiiti been
ftistriii'cted iii t^e tudith^nts of his pi^6fession at Ldfoe^-
<er, bt WaSs placed about 1709, mVder th^ itttttiodiate
tnitSofr of tfefe ti^fattA afnatohiist C6w^p*ry atid resided
firfib&ouijd^ an^datf the same tibali^tddi^^uVgery tindeii'
138 C H.E S E L D B N.
Mr. Feme, the head surgeon of St Thomas's hospitat
Such was the proficiency he made under these able mas^
ters, that he himself began, at the age of twenty-two, to.
read lectures in anatomy, a syllabus of which, in 4to, was^.
first printed in 1711. Lectures of this kind were then,
somewhat new in this country, having been introduced,,
not many years before, by M. Bussiere, a French refugee,
and a surgeon of high note in the reign of queen Aime., Till,
then, the popular prejudices had run so high against the,
practice of dissection, that the civil power found it difficult
to accommodate the lecturers with proper subjects ; and
pupils were obliged to attend the uuiversitieis, or other publio.
seminaHes, where, likewise, the procuring of bodies was bo.^
easy task. It is an extraordinary proof of Mr. Cheseldeu's
early reputation, that he had the honour of being chosen a-
member of the royal society in 1 7 1 1, when he could be little,
more than twenty-three years of age ; but he soon justified
their choice, by a variety of curious and useful communica-.
tions. Nor were his contributions limited to the royal society,
but are to be found in the u^moirs of the royal academy of,
surgeons at Paris, and in other valuable repositories. In
1713 Mr. Cheselden published in Svo, his ^^ Anatomy of
the Human Body," reprinted in 1722, 1726, 1732; iiv
folio in 1734, and in Svo, 1740, and an eleventh edition as late
as 1778.. During the course of twenty years, in which Mr.
Cheselden carried on his anatomical lectures, he wascon^,
tinually rinsing in reputation and practice, and upon Mr^
Feme's retiring from business, he was elected head surgeoiv
of St. Thomas's hospital. At two other hospitals, St.
George's, and the Westminster Infirmary, he was choseii
consulting surgeon; and at length had the honour of^
being appointed principal surgeon to queen Caroline, by^
whom he was highly esteemed ; and was indeed generally
regarded as the first man in his profession.
In 1723 he published in Svo, his *^ Treatise on the high
operation for the Stone." This work was soon attacked
in an anonymous pamphlet, called *^ Lithotomus castratus,
or an Examination of the Treatise of Mr. Cheselden,'' and
in which he was charged with plagiarism. How unjust this
accusation was, appears from . his preface, in which he had
acknowledged his obligations to Dr. James Douglas and
Mr. John Douglas, from one of whom the attack is sup-'
posed to have come. Mr. Cheselden^s solicitude to da
justice to other eminent practitioners is futher manifest^
C H E S EX DEN. 23d
from his having annexed to hi» book a translation of what
Had been written on the subject by Franco, who published
"Trwte vdes Hernies," &c. at Lyons, ih 1561, and by
Roaset, in his ^^ CsBsarei Partus Assertio Historiologica,^*
Paris, 1390. The whole affair was more candidly explained
in 1724, by a writer who had no other object than the
public good, in a little work entitled ^^ Methode de la Taille
aa baut appareile recuillie des ouvrages du fameuK Tri«
umvirat." This triumvirate consisted of Rosset, to whom
the hopour of the invention was due ; Douglas, who had
revived it after long disuse ; and Cheselden, who had
practised the operation with the most eminent skill and
luccess. Indeed Mr. Cheselden was so celebrated on this
atcouDt, that, as a lithotomist, he monopolized the prin*
cipal business of the kingdom* The author of his eloge,
in i^he *^ Memoires de UAcademie Royale de Chirurgerie,^'
who was present at many of his operations, testifies, that
one of them was performed in so small a time as fifty-four
seconds. In n28, Mr. Cheselden added greatly to his*
reputation in another view, by couching a lad of nearly
founeea years of age, who was either born blind, or had
lost his sight so early, that he had no remembrance of his
having ever seen. The observations made by the young
gentleman, after obtaining the blessing of sight, are sin*
gularly ci^rious, and have been much attended to, and
reasoned upon by several writers on vision. They may be*
found in the later editions of the " Anatomy.", In 1729,
our author was elected a corresponding member of the
royal academy of sciences at Paris; and in 1732, soon
after the institution of the royal academy of surgery in that
city, he had the honour of being the first foreigner asso-
ciated with their learned body. Mr. Oheselden's " Osteo-
gr^ph^:, x)r Anatomy of the Bones," inscribed to queen
Carolincj and published by subscription, came out in 1733,
a splendid folio,' in the figures of which' all the bones are
Represented in their natural size. Our author lost a great
suiia of money by this publication, which in 1735 wjw at-
tacked with .much severity by Dr. Douglas,, whose criticism
appeared undqr the title of ^^ Remarks on that pompous
book^ thp Osteography, of Mr, Cheselden." The work
received a more judicious censure from the celebrated
Haller, who, whilst he candidly pointed out its errors, paid
the writer that tribute of applause which he so justly de-
served. Heister, likewise, in bis *' Compendium of Ana*
2W G K E S E L D B N,
mx\%^ did jfti^tic^ fo bi^ ih^rit. Mf. Ch^^Ntdh bof}0^
^bed^ bis desires witb re^pe^t ta fanr^ atid fyttt^dj V^gavi
at\etigth to' wish fenr tt Iffe of gretffer trAnq^iflit^ add fe-i
^ lliremetit ,*^ dnd iit 1737 be oBtairfed Art htkfonri^fe sHiMi^
i\oh 6f ibid kind^ i>f bein^ dp^oi¥it«d hi^a^ ^ur^toi* Hf
CheUeti libspH^; which place Ut h^ld,* #i«h ibe bigb«i«
. reptitsrtion, till hi^ d^^tR H^ did! iiot, hoi^t^r, #boIiy
ifmit iAi eh'deiv6urs to' ddtslffcd th^ kito^IeJdg^ of UK i^8^
ifes^dh ; fo^ ^'jbfd^n th^ ^iMitiY^dh of Mf . Glt^aft«Pj iAm-
lat?e)n bf M6ns. Ife l>raB*fr " OpfertttiOtfrf of Ste-^fery/* Kg
tomrW^ted t#e»ty-6fi^ tif^^ut frl^^« Cd^l^db it; and fl
f ^i^teijr of t^Iuiabfe /eiiiflrk^, sdme of wbkb h6 had liKlUH;
^o el^iy ks ^mi^ iWW^it pi^il {^ ifit. ¥€n^i TU^ Unb
Ifte mt iiieiirf #cift ifi whicB he ^^dgtfd. In' 175^^, Mf/
^be^gld^n, a^ a g6Vei'oor M ffce FomdTlir^ hos^t^l, s^^ «
Bgn^faietioii ef fifty pounds^ io thaCt cKaHty, ^rncfosS^ M «
^' 'tis what thfe h^rt^y <& t!lit'6rfiappy 6wfe 5
Foi* #hift iMn ^«sy ffaie g^^ % hto bestdi^.*'
In ffae lifter etiR of th« i^/be y^ar^ be ti^a^ istiiei ¥H0H it
Aitfatytic ^tMt^,, frofai ti^hfitB in ai(t/eahiW<J^ hd io6iS pfe^.
tiftctly rSto^^ed. Thfe flditering j/rospfefet,- fidwfevir, of
bfd co)iiinxidHtk ih life, ^6aM v&iri^bM ; ttity on W^ ^6tfr
of Aprrl, iISi; he W^ ^AJeMy carried off by « fit 6f Art
Srbjfifexy, ^t Etfth, ib tb* rixty-fbtfrtb yea* of bk ^ge.
e hfartfed VfkibbMl Kiiigitt; k cHi^ert'af dittgWer, arid, it
m oiHtM hot, si^^ 6f tfag faiiii<yu^ Rdb^^t Urii^t; ^bi^^
lb' ihe Sooth-sei toki^y In i7ii&. fiy tfiriil ikdy Mt;
Chfefeld^h hdd emty 6hf!6 datf^bter,^ Wiftelmiirt Webordi,-
. who ivrfs married td thiirtei Cdteft, M. U. of Wtfddcbtej Ifr
Shropshire, abd ttfenibit of ijatliafnent fbr T'driH^«rcK, Ifi
iJt^tfhWshire. Dr. Cotfes difcd wlthdui t^m; ori tb^ ift^
0^ Mirch, 119^ ; a^d Mtk. Cbtes, #ho ifurVlviia hiih,' dm
^tbe y^afs ^ncd at O^^ebbtihe', in thd paVish ifi S^iths^
Cdtfibe; irf the t6b«ty d( keni Mrs. CH*seWtdb died ib 1 7*4.
Mf. (Db^seld^b'd ir^ptitatiom w^s gre^t Ib ilMtcirihy, hut
^'e a^^rfebfend tbdt it vfras itill ^^feat^,' ^S ritor^ jil«t»^
fbanded, itt ^ij^krf. Thfe emrncfrtt strf^ebb M^. I^r^;
ib a d^dibatiod' £b 6itt abtbor, cei^bHii^^ HtOEt as ifa^
dhidMHi bf fals ^rofe^iob ; aclttio^ledges Ms bvH slflff J
ih ^ijf^fety tb bavfe bfeeb drieflydfeflved froiri iflrai ««(!
ref^fesehts, ihit pdiittiif <*rill be ever indM^fed for &t6
Bigtiil ^Hrcis he bas don^ id thk bhibdi of thtsS ]iie(fi6^
J
GfiESKLt)Elff. 241
^H^ In surgery he was undoubtedly a great improver,
having introduced simplicity into the practice of it^ and
iaid aside the operose and hurtful French instruments
which had been formerly in use. Guided by consummate
skill, perfectly master of his hand, fruitful in resources,
he was prepared for all events, and performed every ope-
ration with remarkable dexterity and coolness. Being
fully competent to each possible case, he was successful
ip^lL. He was at the same time emin^ently distinguished
By bis tenderness to his patients. Whenever he entered
the hospital on his morning visits, the -reflection of what
h^ was unavoidably to perform, impressed him with un-
easy sensations ; and it is even said that be was generally
' sick with anxiety before he began an operation, though
during the performance of it he was, as hath already been
observed, remarkably cool and self-collected. Our author's
eulogist relates. a striking contrast between him and a
French surgeon * of eminence. The latter gentleman,
having had his feelings rendered callous by a course of sur-*
gical practice, was astonished at the sensibility shewn by
Mr* Cheselden previously to his operations, and considered
it as a .great mark of weakness in his behaviour. Yet the
same gentleman, being persuaded to accompany Mr. Che-
selden to the fencing*-scbool, who frequently amused him-
self with it as a spectator, could not bear the sight, atid
was( taken ilL The adventure was the subject of conver-
sation at court, and both were equally praised for goodness
ci heart; but the principle of humanity appears to ha vis
been stronger in Mr. Cheselden, because the feeling of it
was not weakened by his long practice.
The connections gf our eminent surgeon and anatomist
: were not ccHifmed to persons whose studies and pursuits
were congenial to those of his own profession^ He was
fond of the polite arts, and cultivated an acquaintance with
men of genius and taste. < He was honoured^ in particular,
with the friendship of Pope, who frequently speaks of
dining with htm, but once bad an interview rather of an
V anpleasing kind. In 174>2, Mr. Cheselden, in a conver-
sation with Mr. Pope at Mr. Dodsley's, expressed his sur-
prisBe at the folly of those who could imagine that the fourth
book oS the Dunciad bad the least resemblance in .style^
* wit, ^humour, or fancy, to the ^hree preceding booklet
Though he was not, perhaps, altogether singular in t|iis
\ opinion, which is indeed a very just one, i£ was no small
Vol. IX. R v
•
1
.242 C H £ S £ L D E N.
, mortification to him to be informed by Pope, tbut be binf-
self was the author of it, and was sorry that Mr. Cheselden
did not hke the poem. Mr. Cheselden is understood to
•have too highly valued himself upon bis taste in poetry
.and architecture, considering the different nature of bis
real accomplishments and pursuits. His skill in the latter
art is said not to have been displayed to the best advantage
in Surgeons' -hall, in the Old Bailey, which was principally
built under his direction. These, however, are triHing
. shades in eminent characters. '
CH£SN£ (Andrew du), an eminent historian, and
justly considered as the father of French history, was born
in the Isle of Bouchard, in Torraine, May 1564. He was
the youngest of the four sons of Tanneguy Du Chesne,
lord of Sausoniere. His name has been Latinized in dif<*
ferent forms. He has at different times called himself
QuernoBus, Quercetanus, Duchenius ; and by others he
has been called Querceus, a Quercu, Chesneus, and Cbes-
nius* In his historical works he assumed no other title
than that af geographer to the king, except in his history
of the house of fietbune, printed in 1639, where be calhs .
•himself historiographer to the king. His family produced
many men of talents in the army and at the bar^ He was "
first educated at Loudun, and after a course of grammar
and rhetoric, came to Paris^ where he studied pbUosophy,
.in the college of Boncours, under Julius Caesar Boulanger,
.an eminent philosopher^ and one of the best historians of
that period.
. . Du Chesne's first attempt as an author, was a duodecioiQ
volume, printed in 1602, and dedicated to Beulanger,
entitled '^ Egregiarum seu Electarum Lectionum et Anti-
quitatum liber.'' The same year he dedicated another to
M. de Cerisy, archbishop of Tours, entitled ^^ Januarise
.Kalendae, seu de solemnitate anni tarn Ethnica quam ,
Christiana brevis tractatus^" with a Latin poem, ^^ Gryphus
de Ternario numero." In 1605 he composed for. a young
lady whom he married in 1608^ ^^ Les figures mystiques
du riche et precieux Cabinet des Dames," apparently a
moral work. In his twenty-third year he began a transla^
tion of Juvenal^ which he published with notes, in 1607.
This is a work of very rare occurrence. In 1609 be pub-
lished ^' Antiquitez et Recherches de la gi*andeQr et ma«
t Biog. BriU-^Nichols's Bowyer, in which are some additional particulars.
C H E S N E. ' ' 2*3-'
jesti cks Rois de France/^ dedicated to Louis XIII. tlren
dauphin. In 1610 he wrote a poem, ^^ Chandelier de
Justice,^' and also a panegyrical discourse on the cere-
BBonies of the coronation ot' queen Mary of Medicisj with
a treatise on the ampulla and ileur-de-lys, &c. but owing
to the assassination of the king, which happened after this,
cerenaony, these productions were lost. The same year
he published a funeral discourse on king Henry IV. and
the first edition of his *^ Antiquitez et Recherches des
Villes et Chateaux de France," which has been often re-
printed. In 1611, appeared his translation and abridge*
ineut of the controversies and macrical researches of Delrio,
the Jesuit, -Svo. In 1612 and 1613, he was employed on
his " Histoire d' Angleterre," the first edition of which was
published in 1614 ; and the same year, in conjunction with
father Marrier, he published in folio, a collection of the
works of the religious of Cluny, under the title " Biblio*
theca Cluniacensis.^' This was followed in 1615, liy his
^^ Histoire des Papes,'' fol. reprinted in 1645, but as this
last edition was very incorrect, his son Francis Du Chesne
published anew one in 1653,. enlarged and illustrated with
portraits. In 1616 he published the " Works of Abelard,'*
with a preface and notes, which are rarely found to*
geiher.
In 1617 he undertook an edition of the " Histoire de
k Maison de Luxembourg,'* written in 1574, by Nicholas
Viguier, and continued it to the year 1557. He was also
editor this year of the works of Alain Chartier, and of Al-
cuinus, aud at the same time projected two great works;
the one, " A Geographical Description of France," which
was to extend to many volumes. This work, of which he
published a specimen, was begun to be printed in Hol-
land, but was not continued ; the other was that on whioh
his fame chiefly rests, his collection of French his«
torians, under the title ^^ Historia Brancorum Seriptores
cosetanei ab ipsius gentis origine ad nostra usque tempora.'*
In the preface to his eoUection of the historians of Nor-
mandy, he gives some account of the plan, which may be
jseen in the life of Bouquet, in this Dictionary, (vol. Vi.)
Peter Pithou and Marquard Freher had given him the idea
of it, and he undertook it by order of Louis XIII. who
encouraged him, by a pension of 2400 livres, which he
£ujoyed till his death, with the title of royal geographer
find historiographer in ordinary. As a preparation for this
R 2
244 C H IE S N E.
work, he published in 1618, his ^^ Bibliotheque des Au-*
teurs qui ont ecrit Histoire et Topographic de la France,''
8vo, which is now superseded by the more extensive work'
of Le Long. It appears that in forming his collections for
the French historians, he was assisted by Peiresc, who^ ex-
amined the church and monastic libraries for him.
in 1619, be published his ^^ Histoire des Rois, Dues,
et Comtes de Burgogne," a new edition of the " Letters*
of Stephen Pasquier,'* and his */ Histories Normannorum
Scriptores antiqui,'* which forms the first volume of his
collection of French historians. The following year ap-
peared his ^^ Histoire genealogique de la Maison de Cbas-
tillon-sur-Marne, &c.'' As his intended publication of
the geographical history of France was interrupted in Hol-
land, he published an abridgment of it at Paris, under the
title of ^' Antiquitez et Recherches des villes, chateaux, et
places remarkables de la France selon Pordre et les ressort
des parlemens," which passed through several editions, as
already noticed ; that of 1647 was edited "and improved by
his son. In 1621 was printed his " Histoire genealogique
de la Maison de Montmorency,'* folio, which Le Long
thinks a capital work of the kind ; it was followed in 1626
by a similar history of the house of De Vergy. In 162*
he published a second volume of the history of Burgundy,
under the title of ** Histoire genealogique des Dues de-
Bourgogne," and in 1631, two other genealogieal histories
of the houses of Guines, Ardres, Dreux, &c. The accu-
racy of these family histories has been very generally
acknowledged, but it is unnecessary to specify the- dates of
each publication.
With respect to his collection of French historians, he
published the first two volumes in 1636, fol. after having
two years before issued a prospectus of the whole, and the
third and fourth volumes were in the press, when on May
30, 1640, he MTSLS crushed to death by a cart, as he was
going to his country-house at Verrieres. He was at this
time in full health, and bade fair for long life and useful-
ness. The two Volumes, then in the press, were completed
by his son, and .published in 1641, to which he added a
fifth volume in 1649, without any assistance from go-
vernment, as the pension granted to his father, and con*
tinned to him on his death, was taken from him about
three years after that event. Some particulars of the con-
tinuation of the work to the present time may be seeo in
I
I
C H E S N E. 245
our life of Bouquet. In Du-Chesne's " Historiae Nor-
mannorum,'' is the '^Emmae Anglorum reginae encomium,'*
of which an edition, with William of Poictier's history of
William the Conqueror, and other historical documents,
was -published, or rather printed for private distribution^
in 1783, 4to, by the learned Francis Maseres, esq. F. R. S.
cursitor-baron of the court of exchequer.
* Extensive as Du Chesne's published labours were, they
give but a faint idea of his immense industry in collecting
historical materials, and of the works which might have
been expected from him. He had intended to confine his
collection of French historians to 24 folio volumes; but
according to Le Long, forty would not be sufficient to
contain the manuscripts worthy of publication, and which
were discovered after his death ; and he had himself
written with his own hand above an hundred folio volumes
of extracts, transcripts, observations, genealogies, &c. most
of which were deposited, for the use of his successors, in the
king's library. Du Fresuoy speaks with less respect of Da
Chesne's labours than they deserve. In collecting so
many original authorities, and producing so many tran-
scripts from valuable and perishing MSS. he has surely
proved himslelf a great benefactor to general history ; and
it is much to his honour that he always was ready to com-
municate his discoveries to persons engaged in the same
study, but .who did not always acknowledge their obli«
gations. ' '
CHESNE (Joseph du), called also Qusrcetanus, lord
of La Violette, and physician to the French king, was born
at Armagnac, about the middle of the sixteenth century.
After having passed a considerable ^ime in Germany, and
being admitted to the decree of M. D. at Basle, 1573,
he practised his art in Paris, and was made physician to
Henry IV. He had made great progress in the study of
chemistry, to which he was particularly devoted. The
success that attended his practice in this. science, excited
the spleen of the rest of the physicians, and especially
that of Guy Patin, who was continualjy venting sarcasms
and satires against him, but experieoce has since shewn
that Du Chesne was better acquainted with the properties
of antimony than Patin and his cdleagues. This learned
ehemist, who is called Du Quesne by Moreri, died at Paris,
1 Le Long Bibl. Hitt'^-NiceroD, ▼o).ViI,-.*^imOnoiaatt«
JH4S C H E S N E.
at a very advanced age, in 160^. He wrote in Frehch
verse, «* The Folly of the World," 1583, 4to. 2. «^ The
great Mirror of the World,"' 1593, Svo. He also com-
posed several books of chemistry, which had great repu-
tation once, although they are now forgotten. Haller has
given the titles of them, and analyses of the principal of
their contents. The most celebrated among them, which
passed through the greatest number of editions, is his
** Pharmacopoeia Dogmaticorum restituta, pretiosis, selec-
tisque Hermeticorum Floribus illustrata," Giesse Hess.
1607. This is said to have been recommended by Boer*
haav£ to his pupils. ^
CHETWOOD (Knightly), D. D. was born in 1652.
fie was educated at Eton, and thence removed to Cam-
bridge, where he was fellow of King's-coUege in 1683,
'when he contributed the life of Lycurgus to the transla-^
tion of Plutarch's Lives, published in that year. He was
intimately connected with Wentworth, earl of Roscom^
mon, whose life, written by him, is preserved in the
public library of Cambridge, among Baker's MS Col-
lections, (vol. XXXVI.) and furnished Fenton with some
of the anecdotes concerning that nobleman, which are found
among his notes on Waller's poems. The life of Virgil,
and the preface to the Pastorals, prefixed to Dryden'$
Virgil, were written by Dr. Chetwood, for whom Dryden
had a great regard, a circumstance very necessary, to be
mentioned, as that life has always been ascribed to I)rydei\
himself. '
. Jacob mentions that Dr. Chetwood had a claim to an
ancient English barony, which was fruitlessly prosecuted
by his son, and which accounts for his being styled ^^ a
person of honour," in a translation which he published of
some of St. Evremont's pieces. By the favour probably
of the earl of Dartmouth, he was nominated to.tlie see of
Bristol by king James H. but soon after his nomination,
the king's abdication took place. In April 1707, he waa
installed deau of Gloucester, which preferment he enjoyed
till his death, which happened AprU tl, 1720, at Temps-*
ford, in Bedfordshire, where be h^d an estate, and where
he was buried. He married a daughter of the celebrated
Samuel Shute, esq. sheriff of London in the time. o§
Pharles IL by whom. he left a son, John, who wa^ feltow
«
). M^rerl«*»I>ict« Hist.— >Haller ^nd MangeU— -Gen, PioK,
CHETWQOD. 34»
1
of Trinity-ball, Cambridge^ and died in 17S5. Tyiro co-
pies of verses by Dr. Chetwood, one in English, and the
other in La^in^ are prefixed to lord Roscommon's ^^ Essay,
on translated Verse," 1685, 4to. He was author also of
several poems, some of which are preserved iu*Dryden's*
Miscellany, and in Mr. Nichols's Collection. He likewise
published three single sermons, and ^^ A Speech to tha
Lower House pf Convocation, May 20, 1715, against the
hte riots."
The following particulars concerning Dr. Chetwood
are found in one of Baker's MSS. in the British Museum^'
(MS. Harl. 7038), *^ Knightley Chetwode, extraordinarie
electus, born at Coventry, came into the place of Tho.
Brinley [as fellow of King's-coUege] ; chaplain to the lord
Dartmouth, to the princess of Denmark, and to king
Jaines II.; prebend of Wells; rector of Broad Rissington^
Gloucestershire; archdeacon of York; nominated bishop
of Bristol by king James, just before his abdication ; went
afterwards chaplain to all the, English fojrces [sent] intO'
Holland under the earl of Marlborough 1689 ; commenced
P,D. 1691; dean of Gloucester." *
CHETWOOD (WiLUAM Rufus), was once a bookseller
in Covent-g?irden, and many years after prompter at Drury-
lane Theatre, g.nd an instructor of young actors. After
passing tl^rough the miserable vicissitudes of inferior drav
^atic rank, he died poor, March 1766. He wrote some'
pieces, long since forgotten, for the stages^ and in 1749,
published *i A General History of the Stage," which al-
though undervalued by the editors pf the Biographia Dra-.
matica, is amusing, and contains much of the information,
^ansferred since into compilations of that kind. ^
CHETWYND (Jo^JJ), was the son of Dr. Edward Chet^^
wynd, dean of Bristol, \yho published some single sermons,
^numerated by Wood, and died in 1639. His n^other was
Helena, daughter of the celebrated sir Joh^ Harrington,
author of the "Nugae Antiquce.'* He was born in 1623,
Qt Banwell in Somersetshire, and admitted commoner of
" Exeter college, Oxford, in 1638, where he took one degree
iji^arts; but iii 1642 left the college. Having espoused
the c^qse of the presbyterians, he returned to Oxford,
when the parliamentary visitors had possession of tl^e u|u*)
I H>cbQU*s Poemt, iroh. I. andlll.— Atterbur^'ftCarrefpfBdence, vol* I. |^
P, 430.~.Malon«'s DrydcD, ?ol. IV. p. 547. * Biog. Dramatica.
&4S C H E T W Y N D.
Tersity, And in 1648 took his master's degree. He was
afterwards one of the joint«pastors of St. Cuthbert in Wells,
and printed some occasional sermons preached there, or in
tiie neighbourhood : but on the restoration he conformed,
and became vicar of Temple in Bristol, and one of the city-
lecturers, and a prebendary of the cathedral. He was much
admired as a preacher, and esteemed a man of great piety.
He died Dec. 30, 1692, and was buried in the chancel of
the Temple church. Besides the " Sermons" already no-
licedy he published a curious and sc£Lrce bookj entitled
** Anthologia Historica ; containing fourteen centuries of
memorable passages, and remarkable occurrences, &c."
Lond. 1674, 8vo, republished in 1691, with the title of
** Collections Historical, Political, Theological, &c.'* He
was also editor of his grandfather sir John Harringtou^s
** Briefe View of the State of the Church of England, &c.
being a character and history of the Bishops,'' l6dS, 12mo.^^
CHEVALIER (Antony Ralph le), a protestant divine,
was born at Montchamps near Vire in Normandy, in 1507.
He learned Hebrew under Vatablus at Pa.ris, and having
gone to England, became of the household of the princess,
afterwards queen Elizabeth, whom he taught French. He
then went to Germany, where he married the daughter of
Tremellius, and this alliance procured him the assistance*
of Tremellius in his Hebrew studies, in which he made'
▼ery distinguished progress, and became one of the first
Hebrew scholars and critics of his age. In 1559- he was
invited to Strasburgb, and thence went to Geneva, where
he taught Hebrew, and published an improved edition of
)?agninus's Dictionary of that language. His love, however,
for his native country induced him to return to Caen, which
the civil wars soon obliged him to leave, and take refuge in
England : he again returned on the peace, but the mas-
sacre of St. Bartholomew's day obliged him to escape to
the island of Guernsey, where he died in 1572. He
translated from the Syriac into Latin the *^ Targum Hiero-
solymitanum j'* and two years after his death, his " Rudi-
menta Hebraicae linguae,'* a very accurate work, was pub-
lished at Wittemberg, 4to. He had designed to publish
an edition of the Bible in four languages, but did not livQ
to accomplish it. ^
% >ii(h. Ox. TOlt. I. and 11. * Mor«ri.-i»S8illet Jugemeni.
C H E V I L L I E R. 249
CHEVILLIER (Andrew), a doctor and librarian of the
Sorbonne, was born at Pontoise in the isle of France in
1636, of poor parents. One of his uncles, a clergyman of
Veaux in the diocese of Rouen, undertook his education,
and afterwards sent him to Paris, where he took his degrees
in divinity, and he was received uito the house and society
of the Sorbonne in 1658, where he was equally admired
for learning, piety, and charity, often stripping himself to
clothe the poor, and even selling his books to relieve them,
which, all book-collectors will agree, was no small stretch of
benevolence. Having been appointed librarian to the Sor*
bonne, his studies in that collection produced a valuable
work, well known to bibliographers, entitled >^ Origine de
rimprimerie de Paris, dissertation historique et critique,**
Paris, 1694, 4to. Maittaire frequently quotes from this
dissertation. 2. A translation, or rather paraphrase of the
" Grand Canon de I'Eglise Grecque," written by Andrew of
Jerusalem, archbishop of Candy, Paris, 1699, !2mo. He
also published in 1664, a Latin dissertation on the council
of Cbalcedon, on formularies of faith, and had some hand
in the catalogue of prohibited books which appeared in
1685. Chevillier died Sept. 8, 1700. *
CHEVREAU (Urban), was born at Loudun, a town of
Poitou in France, May 12, 1613. His inclination led him
to the study of the belles lettres, in which he made so con-
siderable progress, that he obtained a distinguished rank
among the learned. His application to letters, however,
did not unqualify him for business ; for he was a man of
great address and knowledge of the world, and on that
account advanced to be secretary to Christina queen of
Sweden. The king of Denmark engaged him also at his
court. Several German princes entertained him, and
among the rest the elector palatine Charles Lewis, father
to the duchess of Orleans. He continued for some time at
this court, sat at the council-board, and helped to bring
over the princess just mentioned to the Romish commu«
nion. At bis return to Paris, he was made preceptor and
afterwards secretary to the duke of Maine. Then he re-
tired to Loudun, where he had built an elegant habitation,
for the repose of his old age ; and, after spending there
the last twenty years of his life in study and retirement, he
died Feb. 15, 1701, almost 88 years of age.
1 Tloreri.
250 C HE V R E A U.
He left a very noble library bebind him, and was hiih«
self the author of some works : 1. *^ Le Tableau de la For<«
tune,'' 1651, 8vo, in which he relates all the considerable
revolutions that haye happened in the world. It was re-r
printed, with alterations, under the title of ^^ Effets de la
Fortune," a romance, 16S6, 8vo. 2. " L'Histoire du
Mortde," 1686, frequently repriuted ; the best edition is
that of Paris, 1717, $ vols, l^mo, with additions by Bour«
geois de Chastenet : but although the author had recourse
Xq original information, his quotations are not always to
be depended on^ He often mistakes in matters of fact,
and the style is harsh and unpolished. In 1697 were
printed at the Hague, 2 volumes of his ^^ Oeuvres melees,'*
consisting of miscellaneous letters 9nd pieces in prose and
Terse. He wrote also notes on Petroniusi and Malherbe^
and was esteemed a good critic. Much of his turn of mind
and sentiments may be seen in the " Chevraeana," Paris^
1697 and 1700, 2 vols, »
CHEYNE (George), a physician of considerable emi-i
nence and singular character, was descended from a good
fi^ily in Scotland, where he was born in 1671. He
received a regular and liberal education, and was at first
intended by bis parents for the church, though that design
was afterwards laid aside. . He passed his youth, as he him-^
self informs us, in close study, and in almost continual ap-p
plication to the ab.stracted sciences ; and in these pursuits.
bis chief pleasure consisted. The general course of his.
life, therefore, at this time, was extremely temperatp and
sedentary ; though he did occasionally admit of some relax-
ation, diverting himself with work^ of imagination, and
^* roi)sing nature by agreeable comp$tny and good cheer.'*
But upon the slightest excesses he found such disagree-^
able effects, as led him tp conclude, that his glands were
naturally lax, and his solids feeble: in which opinion he
wa& confirmed, by an e^rly shaking of his hands, and adisn
position to be easily ruffled on a surprize. He studied
phytic at Edinburgh under the celebrated Qn Pitcairne, to.
whom he was much attached, and whom be styles ^^ his
gre^t master and generous friend." Having taken the
degree of doctor of physic, he repaired to London to prac-*
tise as a physjqian, when b^ was about thirty years of age.
On his arrival in the metropolis, he soon quitted the regulac.
1 Moreri.— Baillet Jagemens des Sa?ai|S.v-GeUt Diet.— Niceroui vol. XX^
C H E Y N E. 6St
tnd temperate matiDer of life to which he had been chiefly
accustomed, and partly from inclination, and partly from
a view to promote his practice, he passed much of his time
in company, and in taverns. Being of a cheerful temper,
and having a lively imagination, with much acquired
knowledge, he soon rendered himself very agreeable to
those who lived and conversed freely. He was, as he says,
much caressed by them, ** and grew daily in bulk, and in
friendship with these gay gentlemen, and their acquaint-
ances." But, in a few years, he found this mode of living
very injurious to his health : he grew excessively fat, short-
breathed, listless, and lethargic.
But before his health was in this unfavourable state, he
had published a medical treatise, in 8vo, under the follow-
ing title : ** A new Theory of acute and slow-continued
Fevers : wherein, besides the appearances of such, and
the manner of their cure, occasionally the structure of the
Glands, and the manner and laws of Secretion, the opera-
lion of purgative, vomitive, and mercurial medicines are
JBecfaanicaily explained.'' To this he prefixed .^*An essay
concerning the Improvements of the Theory of Medicine.*'
This treatise on fevers was drawn up by Dr. Cbeyne, at the
(jesire of Dr. Pitcairne ; but it was a hasty performance ;
^nd therefore, though it seems to have been favourably
recieived, our author never chose to prefi;^ his name to it.
His next publication was a piece on abstracted geometry
and algebra, entitled " Fluxionum Methodus inversa; sive
quantitatum fluentium leges generaliores." He afterwards
puhlished a defence of this performance, although he never
had a very good opinion of it, against Mr. De Moivre,
VRder the following title : ^^ Rudimeiitorum Method!
fluxionum inversae Specimina, adversus Abr. De Moivre.'^
In 1705, when he was about thirty- four years of age, at
which time he was a fellow of the royal society, he pub-
lished, in 8vo, " Philosophical Principles of Natural Reli-
gion : containing the Elements of Natural Philosophy, and
the proofs for Natural Religion arising from them." This
pi^ce be dedicated to the earl of Roxburgh, at whose de«
sire, and for whose instruction, it appears to have been
priginally written.
In consequence of the free mode of living in which our
author had for some time indulged himself, besides the ill
consequiences that have been already mentioned, be at
length brought on himself, as be ini]C)rms \xsj an autumnal
tSS C H E Y N E.
intermittent fever ; but this he removed in a few weeks by
taking the bark. He afterwards went on tolerably well for
about a year, though neither so clear in his faculties, nor
so gay in his temper, as he had formerly been. But the
following autumn, he was suddenly seized with a verti-
ginous paroxysm, so alarming in its nature, as to approach
nearly to a fit of an apoplexy. By degrees, his disorder
turned to a constant violent head-ach, giddiness, and low«
ness of spirits : upon which he entirely left off suppersg^
which he never resumed, and also confined himself at din-
ner to a small quantity of animal food, drinking but very
little fermented liquors." The decline of his health and
spirits occasioned him^to be deserted by many of his more
airy and jovial companions ; and this circumstance contri-
buted to the increase of his melancholy. He soon after
retired into the country, into a fine air, and lived very low ;
and at this time he employed himself in the perusal of some
of the most valuable theological writers. He bad never,
even in hiis freer moments, deserted the great principles of
natural religion and morality ; but in his present retire-*
ment he made divine revelation the more immediate ob-
ject of his attention. The books that he read were recom-
mended to him by a worthy and learned clergyman of the
church of England, whom he does not name, but whom he
represents to be.the man, that of all his numerous acquaint-
ance, he the most wished to resemble.
.. Dr. Cheyne's retirement into the country, and low regi-
men, having not entirely removed his complaints, he was
persuaded by his medical and other friends, to try the
Bath waters. He accordingly went to Bath, and for some
time found considerable relief from drinking the waters.
But he afterwards returned to London for the winter season,
and had recourse to a milk diet, from which he derived the
most salutary consequences^ He now followed the busi-
ness of his profession, with great diligefnce and attention,
in summer at Bath, and in the winter at London, applying
himself more particularly to chronical, and especially to
l6w and nervous cases : and at this period of his life, he
generally rode on horseback ten or fifteen miles every day,
both sufnmer and winter : in summer on the Downs at
Bath, and in winter on the Oxford road from London.
After our author had found his health to be tborbughly
established, be again made a change in his regimen, gra-
dually lessening the quantity of his milk and vegetableS|
C H E Y N E. 2SS
mad by slow diegress, and in moderate quantitiesy living on
the lightest and tenderest animal food. This he did for
some time, and at last gradually went into the common
mode of living, and drinking wine, though within the
bounds of temperance ; and appears to have enjoyed good
health for several years. But his mode of living, though
he indulged in no great irregularities, was still more free
dian his constitution would admit ; and at length produced
very ill effects. In the course of ten or twelve years he
continued to increase in size, and at length weighed more
than thirty-two stone. His breath became so short, that
upon stepping into his chariot quickly, and with some
effort, he was ready to faint away, and his face would turn
black. He was not able to walk up above one pair of stairs
at a time, without extreme difficulty ; he was forced to
ride from door to door in a chariot even at Bath ; and if
he had but a hundred paces to walk, he was obliged, as he
informs us himself, to have a servant following him with a
stool to rest upon. He had also some other complaints;
and grew extremely lethargic; and at Midsummcf in 1723,
i ^ he was seized with a severe isymptomatic fever, which ter-*
I minated in a most violent erisipelas. He continued to be
in a very bad state of hea Ja for about a year and a half,
having now resided for a considerable time almost entirely
at Bath. But in December 1725,* he went to London,
where be had the advice of his friend Dr. Arbuthnot, Dr.
Mead, Dr. Freind, and some other physicians. From no-
thing, however, did he 6nd so much relief as from a milk
and vegetable. diet ^ by a strict adherence to which, in
somewhat more than two years, his health was at length
thoroughly established; and he almost entirely confined
himself to this regimen during the remainder of his life.
Its the mean time, our author continued to publish some
other medical works ; particularly ^^ An essay of the true
nature and due method of treating the Gout, together with
an account of the nature and quality of Bath Waters, the
manner of using them, and the diseases in which they are
proper : as also of the nature and cure of most Chronical
distempers.*' This passed through at least five editions ;
and was followed by " An essay on Health and Long Life ;'*
which was well received by the public, but occasioned
sundry reflections to be thrown out against him by some
persons of the medical profession. In 1726, he published
the same work in Latin, enlarged, under the following title :
«54 (5 H E Y N.£?
** Georgii Cheynsei Tractatus de Infirmortim Sartitafe
tuenda, Vitaque producenda, libro ejusdem argumenti Ang-^
lice edito longe auctior et limatior ; huic accessit de natura
fibrae; ejusque laxse sive resolatss morbis tractatus nunc pri-»
mum editus." In 1753, he published a piece in 8vo, under
the title " The English Malady : or, a treatise of Nervous^
diseases of all kinds ; as Spleen, Vapours, Lowness of
Spirits, Hypochondriacal and Hysterical distempers, &c/''
His next publication, which was printed in 1740, was en-'
titled " An essay on Regimen ; together with five dis-
courses, medical, moral, and philosophical : serving ta
illustrate the principles and theory of philosophical Medi-
cine, and point out some of its moral consequences.'* The
last work of our author, which he dedicated to the earl of
Chesterfield, was entitled *^ The natural method of curing
the Diseases of the Body, and the Disorders of the Mind
depending on the Pody ; in three parts. Part I. General
reflections on the oeconomy of nature in animal Life;
Part II. The means and methods for preserving Kfe and
faculties ;* and also concerning the nature and cure of
acute, contagious, and cephalic disorders. Part III. Re-^
flections on the nature and cure of particular chronical
distempers." ^
Dr. Cheynedied at Bath, April 12, 1743, in the seventy-
second year of his age. He had great reputation in his own
time, both as a practitioner and as a writer ; and most of
his pieces passed through several editions. He is to be
ranked among those physicians who have accounted for
the operations of medicine, and the morbid alteration?
which take place in the human body, upon mechanical
principles. A spirit of piety and of benevolence, and an
ardent zeal for the interests of virtue, are predominant
throughout his writings. An amiable candour and inge-
nuousness are also discernible, and which led him to re-'
tract with- readiness whatever appeared to him 'to be
censurable in what he had formerly advanced*. Some of
* Of ibis we have a remarkable in- far as it is personal or peevish, and ask
stance iti the preface to bis Essay on him and the world pardoa for it; a$ (
Health and Long Life, in which is the do for the defence of Dr. Pitcairne's
following passage : " The defence of Dissertations, and the New Theory of
that book (his Methodus Fluxionum Fevers, against the late learned and
inversa) against the learned and acute ingenious Dr. Oliphant. I heartiljf
Mr. Abr. de Moivre, being written in a condemn and detest all personal reflec-
spirit of levity and resentment, I most tions, all malicioas and unmanoerlir
sincerely retract, and wish undone, so • terms, and all false and unjust rppre-
C H fi Y N E. ^>55
the metaphysical notions which he has introduced into bb
books may perhaps justly be thought fanciful and ill-
grounded ; but there is an agreeable vivacity iii his pro-
ductions, together with much openness and frankness, and
in general gteat perspicuity. — Of his relations, his half-
brother, the rev. William Cheyne, vicar of Weston near
Bath, died Sept. 6, 1767, and his son the rev. John Cheyne,
vicar of Brigscock, Northamptonshire, died August il,
1768.'
CHEYNE (Jameb)j professor of philosophy, and rector
of the Scotch college at Doway in Flanders, was of the t.n*
cient family of Arnage, or Arnagie in Aberdeenshire,
where he was bom in the early part of the sixteenth cen-
tury. After studying classical and philosophical learning
in the uhiverstty of Aberdeen, he applied to divinity under
Mr. John Henderson, a celebrated divine of that time ; but
on the establishment of the reformation, Cheyne (as well ad
bis master) went over to France, and taught philosophy fot
spQie time in the college of St. Barbe at Paris. From
thence he. went to Doway, where he taught philosophy for
several years, and was made rector of the Scotch college,
and canon and greatpenitentiary of the cathedral of Tournay.
He died in 1602, and was buried in that church under a
marble monument,' with an inscription. The authors quoted
by Muchenzie give him the character of one of the first
mathematicians and philosophers and most learned men of
his time. He wrote, 1. " Analysis in Philosophiam Aristot.'*
Duac. (Doway), 1573, 1595, 8vo. 2. " De sphaera seu
globi coelestis fabrica," ibid, 1675. 3. " De Geographia,
lib. duo,'* ibid. 1576, 8vo. 4. ** Orationes duo, de per-
fecto Philosopho, &c." ibid. 1577, 8vo. 5. " Analysis et
scholia in Aristot. lib. XIV.'* ibid. 1578, Svo. *
CHEYNELL (Francis), a nonconformist of some note,
the son of John Cheynell a physician, was born at Oxford
in i>608 ; and after he had been educated in grammar
seotationd, as, unbecoming gentlemen, to adhere: << To neglect n.othing to
KCholars, and Christians; and disprove secure his eternal peace, any more
and undo both performances, as far as than if he had been certified he should
in me lies, in every thing that does not die within the day; nor to mind any
strictly and barely relate to the argu- thing that his secular obligations and
ment.^' Another of Dr. Cheyne's reso* duties demanded of him less, than if
lutions onght never to be forgotten, he had been insured to live fifty year»
and to which he sincerely endeavoured more.*'
} Biog. Brit. — Chesterfield** Miscellanies. — Gent. Mag. see Index.
' Machenzie*;> Scotch writers, vol. HI. — Ikmpjitec Hist. Eccles. — Tanner.
&-•
256 C Ji E y N E L L,
learning, became a tnember of the university there io
1623. When he had taken the degree of B. A. he was,
by the interest of his mother, at that time the widow of
Abboty bishop of Salisbury^ elected probations fellow of
jMerton college in 1629. Then he went into orders, and
officiated in Oxford for some time ; bat when the church
began to be attacked in 1640, he took the parliamentarian
side, and became an enemy to bishops and ecclesiastical
ceremonies. He embraced the covenant, was made on6
of the assembly of divines in 1643, and was frequently
appointed to preach before the members of parliaments
He was one of those who were sent to convert the university
of Oxford in 1 646, was made a visitor by the parliament
in 1647, and tbe year after took possession by force of the
Margaret professorship of that university, and of tbe pre^
sidentship of St. John^s college. . But being found an
improper man for those places, he was forced to retire to
the rectory of Petworth in Sussex, to which be had been
presented about 1643, where- he continued aa useful mem-
ber to his party till the time of the restoration, when he
was ejected from that rich parsonage.
Dr. Cbeynell (for he had taken his doctor's degree) was
a man of considerable parts and learning, and published a
great many sermons and other works i but now he is chiefly
memorable for his conduct to the celebrated Chillingworth^
in which be betrayed a degree of bigotry that has not been
defended by any of the nonconformist biographers. In
1643, when Laud was a prisoner in the Tower, there was
printed by authority a book of CheynelPs, entitled ^* The
rise, growth, and danger of Socinianism,'' and unques-
tionably one of his best works. This came out about six
years after Cbillingworth's more famous work called " Tbe
Religion of Protestants," &c. and was written, as we are
told in the title-page, with a view of detecting a most
horrid plot formed by the archbishop and hb adherents
against the pure Protestant religion. In this book the
archbishop, Hales of Eton, Chillingworth, and other emi-
nent divines of those times, were strongly charged with
Socinianism. The year after, 1644, when Chillingworth
was dead, there came out another piece of CheynelPs with
this strange title, ^^ Cbillingworthi Novissima ; or, the sick-
ness, heresy, death and burial of William Chillingworth."
This was also printed by authority ; and is, as the writer
of Chillingworth's life truly observes, a most ludicrous
■d lA E ¥ N E L t; 257
65 well as melancholy instance of fanaticism, or religious
madness. To this is prefixed a dedication to Dr. Bayly^
Dr. Prideaux, Dr. Fell, &c. of the university of Oxford^
who had given their imprimatur to Chillingwbrth^s book J
in which tbo^e divines are abused not a little, for giving
«o much countenance to the use of reason in religious' mat*
ters, as they had given by their approbation of Chilling^
Worth*s book. After the dedication follows the relation
itself; in which Cheynell gives an account^ hovjr he camd
acquainted with this man of reason, as he calls Chilling-
worth ;- what care he took of him ; and how, as his illness
increased, "they remembered him in their prayers, and
prayed heartily that God would be pleased to bestow saving
graces as well as excellent gifts upon him ; that He woula
give him new light and new eyes, that he might see aiad
acknowledge, and recant his error ; that he might deny
hb carnal reason, and submit to faith :'^ in all which he i^
supposed to have related nothing but what was trae. Foi*
he is allowed by bishop Hoadly to have been as sincere, ad
honest, and as charitable as his religion would suffer biiH
to be ; and, in the case of Chillingworth, while he thought
it his duty to consign his soul to hell, was led by his hu-
manity to take care of his body. Chillingworth at length
died; and Cheynell, though he refused, as he tells us, to
bury his body, yet concdi.ved it very fitting to buryhii
book. For this purpose be met Chillingworth*s friends at
the grave with' his book in his hand; and, after a short
preamble to the people, in which he assured thtem •* hoW
happy it wotild be for the kingdom, if this' book jind
all its fellows could be so buried that they might tiever rise
more, unless it were for a confutation," be exclaimed^
** Get thee gone, thou cursed book, which has seduced so
many precious souls: get thee gone, thou corrupt rottert
book, earth to earth, aufldust to dust: get thee gone into
the place of rottenness,* that thou nxaye3t rot with thy
author, and 6ee cdrrup.tioh:" ' * '
* Clieynell's death happened in J 665, at an obscure vil-
lage called Pir€iston, in Sussex, wherie he had purchased
an estate, to which hfe retired upon his being turned out
of the fiVmg of »PetWokh. The Warnith of his ^eal, in-
creased by thp turbulence of th^e tinaes in which be lived,
amd hy the opposition to which tji« unpopular nature of
some of. bis jem^ployments exposed him, was at last 'height*
ened to'distraction, and he was for some years disordered
Vol. IX. S
258 C H E Y N E L L.
in his understanding. Wood thinks that a tendency to
madness was discoverable in a gireat part of his life ; Ca«
lamy, that it was only transient and accidental, tlmugh be
E leads it as an extenuation of that fury with which his
indest friends confess him to have acted on some occa-
sions, particularly, we may add, at Oxford, when one of
the parliamentary visitors, where his behaviour was savage
enough to justify more than the retaliation inflicted on his
party.' Wood declares that he died little better than dts-
tracted ; but Calamy, that he was perfectly recovered be-
fore the restoration. He had many good qualities, parti-
cularly a hospitable disposition, and a contempt for money ;
but his extravagant zeal marred his usefulness, and re-
flected no honour on his general character, or on his party.
With regard, however, to his charging Chilling^orth with
Socinianism, that is now universally allowed. '
CHIABRERA (Gabrielo), an Italian poet, was bom M
Savone, in 1 552. He went to study at Rome, where Aldus
Manutius and Muretus gave him their friendship and advice^
and pope Urban VHI. and the princes of Italy honoured him
with many public marks of their esteem. In 1^24 Urbany
himself a poet, as well as a protector of poets, invited him
to Rome for the holy year ; but Chiabrera excused himself
on account of old age and infirmities. He died at Sayone
in 1638, aged eighty-six. His Lyric Poems, Rome, 17 18^
3 vols. 8vo, and << Amadeida,** Napoli, 1635, 12mo,^re
particularly admired. All his works were collected ;at
Venice, 1731, 4vols. Svo.* •
CHIARAMONTI (Scipio), iii Latin Claramontios^
an eminent Italian astronomer and philosopher, was born
at Cesena in the province of Romagna in June 1565. His
father was a physician at Cesena. He studied at P^rUgia
and Ferrara, and became distinguishect for his progress;, in
philosophy and mathematics; the former of wkicb -he
' taught for some time at Pisa. He passed, however, '^e
greater part of his long life at Cesena, and in his history
of that place, which he published in 1641, he informs -vs^
that for fifty -nine years he had served bis country in apuhr
lie capacity. He was, in particular, frequently deputed to
Rome, either to offer obedience to the pope in the name
" • . *
- 1 Fram tli6,few incidentt of hb life Dr. Johnson dr«w out mn elegant naiT%tiTe
in 1751, now printed in big worlu. See also, Atb. Ox. vol. II.— -Wood's Ami*
^uities of Oxford, by Gutcb.-^aiamy. — ^Neal's Puritans, &c.
» XUib)Hchi.?f']^aiUet JttgeiiieBt4«*£rytbr«9l ?iBii«otiiecfi.^lf«r^^ J;
C HI ARAM O N T I. 2Sa
of his countrymen, or on other afikirs.- He had married a
-Jady whom be calls Virginia de Abbatibus, but becoming
a widower at the age of eighty, he went into the church,
received priest's orders, and retired with the priests of the
congregation of the oratory, for whom he built a church at
Cesena, and there he died Oct. 3, 1652, in his eighty*
feyepth year. He established at Cesena the academy of
jth^ Oifuscati, over which he presided until his death. His
works, written partly in Italian and partly in Latin^ are
very numerous, and filled a considerable space in the li*
tjOrary history of his time : 1. '^ Discorso della Cometa po«
gon«ure deir anno 1618> &c»" Venice, 1619, 4to, in which
- he suggests . that comets are sublunary, and not celestial
bodies. 2. ^^ Anti-Tycho, in quo contra Tychonem Brabe,
^et nonnullos alios, &c. demoustratur Cometas essesubki-
nares,'* Venice, 1621, 4to. Kepler on this occasion stept
forward in defence of Tycho Brabe, who had been dead
some, years. 3. '^ De conjectandis.cujusque moribus et
^ latitantibus animi affectibos semeiotice moralis, seu de sig-
. .nis libri decern," ibid. 1625, 4to, reprinted by Herman
Conringius, who calls it an incomparable work, at Helm*
:8tadt, in 1665, 4to. MorhofF also praises, it highly. M.
. Trichet Dufresne brought a copy of it for the first tim^
. iuto France, and M. de la Cbambre availed himself of it
in his work on the passions. 4. *< Notae in moralem;Suam
semeioticam> seu de ^ignis,** Cesena, 1625, 4to. It is,
, peihaps,. unnecessary to inform our readers that physio-
gnomy was a favourite study from the beginning of the
^fteenth to the end of the sixteenth century, and Chiara^
men ti appears to have made as much progress in it as any
. «f his contemporaries. 5. An answer to Kepler, under the
title '^ Apologia pro Anti-Tycbone suo adversus Hyperas-
'piteaJoaanis Kepieri," Venice,. 162 6, 4to. 6. "De tri-
Jbu8 novis stellis, qufls annis 1572, 1600, et 1604, com-
: pi^meie," Cesena, 1628, 4to. Galileo now took the part
, of Tycho Brabe, and published, in Italian a work against
^ .Chiaramonti, who answered it in, 7. ^^ Difesa di Scipioni
Chiaramonti,^e/' Florence, 1633^ 4to. 8. << Delia ra«
. gione di statp libri tre» nel quale trattato da primi pnn«
. -cipii dedotto si suo pcona la natiira, le ms^sime, e le specie
de^ governi buoni, cattivi e mascherati,'' Florence, 1635,
* 4tx>, and translated into Latin, Hamburgh, ,1679, 4to. 9.
'^ Examen ad censuram Joannir'Camilli Gloriosi in libruni
de tiibut novis stellis,'' ibid. 1636^ 4to* 10. << De sede
3 ;2
^60 C H I A R A M O N T L
sublunari dotnetftrum, opuscula tria/* Amst. 1636^, 4to. 1 1^.
*< Castigatio J» CamiUi Gloriosi adversus Clatamontium
castigata ab ipso Clavamontio/' Gesena, 1638, 4to. -^12:
^* De inetbodo ad doctrinam spectante, Hbri quatuor, &c."
abid. 1639, 4to. IS. ^^ Caesene Historia libris sesdecim,
ab initio civitatis ad h^e teropora/* with a sketch of the
general history of Italy during the same period, Cesena,
1'641, 4to, 14. " De atrabile, quoad mores attinet," Pa-
ris, ^641, 6vo, dedicated to Naud6, but in the licence it
H erroneoosly said that the author was physician to the
p>pe» 15. ** Anti-Philolaus, in quo Philolaus redivivus de
tevrae motu et solis ac fixarum quiete impugnalur," &c.
Cesena> 1643, 4to. This was written against BuUialdus's
attempt to revive the system of Philolaus, but in this we
doubt whether our author was equal to his antagonist. 16.
^* Defensio ab oppognationibus Fortunii Liceti de sede Co-
me tarum,'' Cesena, 1644, 4to. 17. " De Universe, libri
sexdiecim/- Cologne, 1644, 4to. 18. One of his best
works, ^* De altitudine Caucasi liber iinuS| cura Gab. Nau*
diei editus," Paris, 1649, 4to, and 16»0, 4to. 19; " Pfai^
losophia naturalis methodo resolutiva tradita, &c.^* Cesena,
1652, 4to, 20. ** Oiniscula varia mathematica," Bologna,
1653, 4to. 2 1 . " Commentaria in Aristotelem de iride,
fcc'* ibid, 1654, 4tQ. 22. " In quatuor meteortim Aristo*
telis librum commentaria,*' Venice, 1668, 4to, 23. "Delle
scene, e tbeatri opera poschuma,^^ Cesena, 1675, 4to. *
CHICHELE (Henry), archbishop of Canterbury, and
founder of All Souls college, Oxford, was born, probably
i» 1362, at Higham-Ferrars in Northamptonshire, of pa-
rents who, if not distinguished by their opulence, were at
least enabled to place their children in situations which
c}ualified them for promotion in civil and political life.
Their sons, Robert and Thomas, rose to the highest dig-
nities in the magistracy ef London ; and Henry, the sub*-
ject of this memoir, was, at a suitable age, placed at Win«>
Chester school, and • thence removed to New coUegei
where be studied the civil and canon law. Of his pro-
ficiency here, we have little information, but the progress
ef his advancement indicates that he soon acquired distinct-
tion, and conciliated the affection of the first patrons of
the age. From 1392 to 1407, he can be traced through
•■ . .
1 Moreri. — Saxii Onomast. in CUtranontioSj and Movboff Polyhist. in tbt
saii^e. — ^Nicer^n, vol. XXX,
C H I C H E L E, 861
vsiriou^ ecclesiastical preferments and dignities, for some
at least of which he was indebted to j^ichard Metford,
bishop of Salisbury. This valuable friend be had the mis-
fortune to lose in the last mentioned year ; but bis repu«
tation was so firmly established, that king Henry IV.
about this time employed him on an embassy to pope In-
nocent VII. on another to the court of France, and on a
third to pope Gregory XI L who was so much pleased with
his conduct as to present him to the bishopric of St.
David'S| which happened to become vacant during his
residence at the apostolic court in 1408. In the following
year he was deputed, along with Hallum, bishop of Salis-
bury, and Chillingdon, prior of Canterbury, to represent
England in the council of Pisa, which was convoked tQ
settle the disputed pretensions of the popes Gregory and
Benedict, both of whom were deposed, and Alexander V,
chosen in their room, who b^^d once studied at Oxford.
. On our founder^s return, he passed some months in dis-
charging the functions of his diocese. In May 1410, be
was again sent to France, with other negociators, to ob-«
tain a renewal of the truce between the two kingdoms;
but this was not accomplished until the year following, nor
without considerable di65culties. For nearly two years
after this, we find him residing on his diocese, or paying
occasional visits to the metropolis, which his high charac-
ter as a statesman rendered no less necessary than grateful
to bis royal master.
On the accession of Henry V. he was again consulted
and employed in many political measureQ, and appears to
have completely acquired the confidence of the new sove-
reign, who sent him a third time into France on the sub-
ject of peace. The English were at this time in possessioa
of some of the territories of that country, a circumstance
which rendered every treaty of peace insecure, and create4
perpetual jealousies and efforts towards emancipation ou
the part of the French.
In the spring of 1414, Cbichele succeeded Arundel as
archbishop af Canterbury, which he at first refused in de-
ference to the pope ; but on the pontiff^s acceding to the
election made by the prior and monks, he was put in com-
plete possession, and soon had occasion to exert the whole
of his talents and influenee to preserve the revenues of the
church, wbich the parliament had more than once advised
tlie king to take into hi^ own band$. The time was crit^*
262 C H I C H E L E.
cal ; the king had made demands on the court of France^'
which promised to end in hostilities, and large supplies
were wanted. The clergy, alarmed for the whole, agreed
to give up a part of their possessions, and Chichele under-
took to lay their offer before parliament, and as far as
eloquence could go, to render it satisfactory to that assem-
bly. It is here that historians have taken occasion to cen«
sure his conduct, and to represent him as precipitating the
king into a war with France, in order to divert his atten*
tion from the church. But while it is certain that he
strongly recommended the recovery of Henry's hereditary
dominions in France, and the vindication of his title to that
crown, it is equally certain that this was a disposition
which he rather found than created ^ and in what manner
he could have thwarted it, if such is to be supposed the
wiser and better course, cannot be determined without a
more intimate knowledge of the state of parties than is
now practicable. The war, however, was eminently suc-
cessful, and the battle of Azincourt gratified the utmost
hopes of the nation^ and has ever since been a proud me-
mento of its valour. During this period, besides taking
the lead in political and ecclesiastical measures at home|
Chichele twice accompanied the king's camp in France.
After the death of Henry V.' in 1422, and the appoints
ment of Humphrey duke of Gloucester to be regent during
the minority of Henry VI., Chichele retired to his pro-
vince, and began to visit the several dioceses included in
it, carefully inquiring into the state of morals and relig^ion.
Tlie principles of Wickliffe h^ made considerable p/o-
grress, and it was to them chiefly that the indifference of
the public towards the established clergy, and the efforts
which had been made to^ alienate their revenues, were
attributed. Officially, tberefojis^, we are not to wonder that
Chichele, educated in all the prejudices of the times, en-
deavoured to che^k the growing heresy, as it was csdled ;
but from the silence of Fox on the subject, there is reason
to hope that his personal interference was far more gentle
than that of his predecessor Arundel. On the other hand,
history has done ample justice to the spirit with which be
resisted the assumed power of the pope in the disposition
of ecclesiastical preferments, and asserted the privileges
pf the English church. In all this he was supported by
the nation at large, by a majority of the bishops, and by
the university of Oxford, nor at this time was more zeal
C H I C H E L E. 363
r
sbbwn against the Lollards, or first protestaDts, than against
the capricious and degrading encroachments of the court
of Rome. Among the vindications of Chichele's character
from the imputations thrown upon it by the agents of the
pope, that of the university of Oxford must not be omitted.
They told the pope, that ^ Chichele stood in the sanctu*
ary of God as a firm wall that heresy could not shake, nor
simony undermine, and that he was the darling of the
people, and the foster parent of the clergy." These re-
monstrances, however, were unsatisfactory to the proud
and restless spirit of Martin V. but after he had for some
time kept the terrors of an interdict hanging over the na«
tion, the dispute was dropped without concessions on either
side, and the death of this pope, soon after, relieved the
archbishop from farther vexation.
^ He was now advancing in years, and while he employed
his time in promoting the interests of his province, he
eonceived the plan of founding a college in Oxford, which
he lived to accomplish on a very magnificent scale. One
benefit he conferred, about the same time, of a more gene«
ral importance to both universities. Puring the sitting of
one of the convocations in 14^38, the universities presented
a remonstrs^nce, stating the grievances they laboured under
from wars, want of revenues, and th^ neglect of their
'inembers in the disposal of church livings. Chichele im-
mediately procured a decree that all ecclesiastical patrons
should, for ten years to come, confer the benefices in their
^ift on members of either university exclusively ; aqd that
vicars general, commissaries and officials, should be chosen
.otkt of the graduates in civil and common law.
He had now held eighteen synods, in all of which he
distinguished himself as the guardian of the church, and
was eminently successful in conciliating the parliament
and nation, by such grants on the part of the clergy as
showed a readiness, proportioned to their ability, to siip-
port the interests of the crown and people. The most
noted of his constitutions were those which enjoined ^e
celebration of festivals ; regulated the probates of wills ;
provided against false weights; and augmented the, sti-
pends of vicars. That which is most to be regretted wiete,
hi^ instituting a kind of inquisition against LoUardism. i
In 1442, he applied to pope Eugenius for an indulgence
to resign his office into more able hands, beiiig now nearly
eighty years old, and, as he pathetically urges, <^ heavy
264
C H I C H E L E.
iadfen, aged, infirm, and w^ak beyond measure.'* He io-*
treats that be may be released from a burthen which he
was no longer able to support either with ease to . himself,
or advantage to others. He died, however, before the
issue of this application could be known, on the 12th of
April 1443, and was interred with great solemnity in the
pathedral of Canterbury, under a monument of exquisite
workmanship built by himself. As a farther mark of re-
spect, the prior and monks decreed that no person .should
be buried in that part of the church where his remains
were deposited^
His character, when assimilated to that of the age in
which he lived, is not without a portion of the dark senti«
ment, and barbarous spirit of persecution, which obstructed
the reformation ; but on every occasion where be dared to
fxert his native talents and superior powers of thinking,
ye discover the measures of an enlightened statesman, and
that liberal and benevolent disposition which would confer
pelebrity in the brightest periods of our history.
The founclatipn of AH Souls college is not the 6rst in-
stance of his munificent spirit. In 1422, he founded a
collegiate church at his native place, Higham-Ferrars, so
amply endowed, that on its dissolution by Henry VIII. its
revenues were valued at 1^6^. This. college consisted of a
quadrangular buildings of which the church only now re« .
mains, and is used sls a parish church. . To this he attached
^n hospital for the poor, and both these institutions were
long supported by th^ legacies (^ his brothers Robert and
William, aldermen of London *, He also expended large
sums in adorning the catl^efiral of Canterbury, founding a
library there^ and in adding to the buildings of Lambeth
palace t, Croydon churcbj and Rochester-bridge.
His first intentipHs with respect to Oxford ended in the
erection oif a house for the schplar^ of the Cistercian order,
who at that time had no settled habitatiqn at Oxford. This
mansion, which wa& called St. Bernard's College, wasi afteri
^ Robert Chichele, citizen and gro-
cer, served the oAoe of fheriff id 1409>
and that of lord mayor twice, in:14U
and 1422. He died without issue.
William served the office of sheriff in
1409, and his spn, John, was cfaam-
berlaia of London. He had a very
Dumeroos issue.
f He.boiit the great tewer at the
vest end of th^ chapel, called the Lol-
lard*s ToWer, at the top of which is a
prison room. Before the rtfbrmation,
the archbishops had prisons for eeele*
siastical offenders, who, if persons of
rank, were kept in separate apartments,
and used to eat at the archbishop's
table, Lysoas's Environs, ait. Lah-
BETH, and Churton's Lives of the Fouih;
ders, p. 189, et seqq.
C H r C H E L E. 265
awards- alienated to sir Thomas White, and formed part of
St. John's college. The foundation of All Souls, however,
is that which has conveyed his memory to our times with
the highest claims of veneration. Like his predecessor
and friend Wykeham, he had amassed considerable wealth,
and determined to expend it in facilitating the purposes of
education, which, notwithstanding the erection of the pre-
ceding colleges, continued to be much obstructed during
those reigns, the turbulence of which rendered property
insecure, and interrupted the quiet progress of learning
and civilization.
At wiiat time he first conceived this plan is not recorded.
It appears, however, to have been in his old age, whep be
obtained a release from interference in publiq measures.
The purchases he made for his college consisted chiefly, of
Berford hall, or Cherleton's Inn, St. Thomas's hall, Tinge^
wick hall^ and Godknave hall, comprising a space of one
hundred and seventy-two feet in length in the High street,
and one hundred and sixty*two in breadth in Cat, or Cathe^
rine street, which runs between the High street and . Hert-*
ford college : to these additions were afterwards made, which
enlarged the front in the High street. The foundatioti
stone was laid with great solemnity, Feb. 10, 1437. John
Druell, archdeacon of Exeter, and Roger Keyes, both
afterwards fellows of the college, were the principal archir
tects, and the charter was obtained of the king in 1438,
and confirmed by the pope in the following year. In th^
charter, the king, Henry VI. assumed the title of foun^lei^
at the archbishop's solicitation, who appears to have paid
him this compliment to secure his patronage for the ii^sti-
tution, while the full exercise of legislative, authority vffi.%
reserved to Chichele as co-founder.
According to this charter, the society was to consist of a
warden and twenty fellows, with power in the warden to
increase their number to forty, and to be called The war-
den and college of the souls of all the faithful deceased^
Collegium Omnium jinimarum Fidelium defunciorum de
Oxan. The precise meaning of this may be understood
from the ol)ligation imposed on the society to pray for the
good estate of Henry VL and the archbishop during their
lives, and for their souls after their decease ; also for th6
aouls of Henry V. and the duke of Clarence, together with
those of all the dukes, earls, barons, knights, esquires^
and other subjects of the crown of England, who had fallen
266
C H I C H E L E.
in the war with France ; and for the souls of all die faithful:/
deceased.
Sixteen of the fellows were to study the civil and canon
laws,* and the rest, philosophy and the arts, and theology*
But the most remarkable clause in this charter, when com-
pared to former foundations, is that which gives the society
leave to purchase lands to the yearly value of 300/. a sum
very far exceeding what we read of in any previous foun-
dation, and which has more recently been increased to
1050/. by charters from Charles I. and George II. Ano-
ther diarter of very extensive privileges was granted soon'
after the foundation by Henry VI. ; and this, and the char-
ter of foundation, were confirmed by an act of parliament
14 Henry VII, 1499.
It was not till within a few days of his death that the
archbishop gave a body of statutes for th& regulation of his^
college, modelled after the statutes of his iUustrious pre-
cursor Wykeham. After the appointment of the number
of fellows, already noticed, he ordains that they should be
born in lawful wedlock, in the province of Qanterbury^
with a preference to the next of kin, descended from his
brothers Robert and William Chichele *. To the society
were also added chaplains, clerks, and choristers, who
appear to have been included in the foundation, although
they are not mentioned in the charter.
• For the more ample endowment of this college, the
founder purchased and bestowed on it the manor of Wedon
jtnd Weston, or Wedon Pinkeney in Northamptpnshire.
King^s college, Cambridge, became afterwards possessed
of a pah of it, bqt All Souls has, besides the advowson of
the churches belonging to it, the largest estate, and thi^
lordship of the waste. The founder also gave them the
4nanors of Horsham, and Scotney^ or Bletching-court in
Kent, and certain lands called the ThriiFs or Friths in
.* This part of the fouDder's statutes
lias occasioned much litigation, as the
'farther the time is remored from> bis
age, the difficulty of ascertftiniog con-
iiaDguinity becomes almost iosupera-
ble. According to the ** Stemmata
^tticbeleatta," published in 1765, the
collateral descendants of our founder
were then to be traced through nearly
Iweke hundred families; but this,
which seems at first to Administer iaci-
' IKj* M in tact the soarce of many dis*
puted and disputable claims. In ITtS,
on an application to CornwalUs, areh^
bishop of Canterbury) as visitor, he
decreed that the number of fellows to
be admitted on claim of kindred should
be limited to twenty. In 1792, on the
dain of kindred by s person, when the
nuai)'«r of twenty: happened to be QOfls-
plete, the matter was re-he«fd, and th^
former archbishop's decree ratified and
oonfinned*
C H I C H E L E. «67
Wapenbain, Northamptonshire ; with the suppressed alien
priories of Romney in Kent ; the rectory of Upchurch ;
the priory of New Abbey near Abberbury, in Shropshire ;
of St. Clare in Carmarthenshire, and of Llangenith in
Glamorganshire. Wood says, that king Edward IV. took
into his hands all the revenues of this college and these
priories, because the society had "sided with Henry VL
against him ; but it appears by the college archives, that
the king took only these alien priories, and soon restored
them, probably because he considered it as an act of jus**
tice to rest(Mre what had been purchased from, and not
given, by the crown. Besides these possessions, the trus-
tees of the founder purchased the manors of Edgware,
Kingsbury, and Malories, in Middlesex, &c*; and Hebe*
queathed the sums of lZ4l. 6s, Sd. and«« thousand marks,
to be banked for the use of the college *.
These transactions passed -i^iefly during the building of
the college, which the aged founder often inspected. - In
14<42, it was capable of receiving the warden and felldws^-
who had hitherto been lodged at the archbishop*s expenses
in a hall and chambers hired for that purpose. The cha«
pel was consecrated, early in the same year, by the
founder, assisted by the bishops of Lincoln (Alnwick)^
Worcester (Bourchier), Norwich (Brown), and others who
were suffragans. The whole of the college was not iinisheil
before the latter end of 1444, and the expense of buildings
according to the accounts of 'Druell and Keys, may be
estimated at 4156/. 6s. 3ld. The purchases of ground^
books, chapel furniture, &c. amounted to 4302/. 5s, %(k
The subsequent history of this college is amply detailed in
t>ur authorities. ^
CHICOYNEAU (Francis), counsellor of state, and
first physician to the French king, was born at Montpellief
in 1 6f 2. Having obtained his doctor's degree, though no
more than twenty years old, he was sent to stop the pro-
gress .of the plague then raging at Marseilles, by the duke
of Orleans, regent of the kingdom. The boldness and
confidence with whicEi he entered that city, where every
. # He gmve ajio 1*23/. .6*. $d, to New to Um iaenilM!i9» end fabMribedLUifeljr
eollege, and the Mine f urn to Uie uni- to.Uie publie library,
Ternty cbest, ai a food for imall kians
1 Chalniert's Hitt. of Oiford.— Life of Chichele by Duck, an^ a better cbe
by Spenser, 1783, Sto, — ^BM)g.Brit-^ Wood's Colleges apd ^alU, and Auoals,^
^ateite Vte, p. 1.
268 C H I C O Y N E A U.
■ • •
one seemed only waiting for death, had a striking effect on
their fears. He encouraged the inhabitants^ and quieted
their alarms by his presence ; and his success was beyond
expectation. His services were rewarded by marks of
honour and a pension from the king. In 1731 he was
called to court to.be physician to the royal children, by
the interest of Chirac, whose daughter he had married;
and after whose death he was made first physician to the
king, counsellor of state, and superintendant of the mine-
xal waters of the kingdom. He died at Versailles in 1752,
aged near 80. The most curious o^ his works is that
wherein he maintains that the plagu<^ is not contagious,
entitled ^^ Observations et reflexions touchant la nature,
les evenements, et le traitement de la Peste de Marseilles,"
Paris, 1721, 12mor He published also a valuable collec-
tion of facts relative to the plague, under the title of
•* Traits des causes, &c. de la Peste," Paris, 1744, 4to. *
CHICOYNEAU (Aime Francis), born at Montpellier
in 1702, was brought up under his father, the subject of
the foregoing article. The famous Chirac afterwards
taught him the elements of physic, and he was instructed
in anatomy by Du Vernay and Winslow, and botany by
Yaillant, under whom he made great progress. The de-
monstration of the virtues of plants was his first function in
the university of Montpellier, which he executed with
great success, and the royal garden of that town, the most
ancient in the kingdom, the work of Henry IV. was en-
tirely renewed in a very short time. He died in 1740, at
t}ie age of 38, professor and chancellor of the university of
Montpellier, being the fifth of his family that had enjoyed
that dignity. '
CHJFFLET (John James), a physician and politician,
was born at Besan9on, a town of Franche Cpmt^, in 1588.
H<e was descended from a fao^ily distinguished by literary
merit, as well as by the services it bad done its country*
He was educated at Besan^on, and then travelled through
several parts of Europe, where he became acquainted with
all the men of letters, and in every place made his way
into the cabinets of the curious. At his return he applied
himself to the practice of physic ; but being sent by the
town of Besangon, where he had been consul, on an em4
bassy to Elizabeth Clara Eugenia, archduchess of the Low
t Moreri.-*X>ict Hist. > Ibid,
C H I P F L E T. S6f
Countries, thiat princess was so pleased with him, that she
prevailed with him to continue with ber in quality of phy-
sician in ordinary. Afterwards be became physician to
Philip IV* of Spain, who honoured him very highly, pnd
treated bim with great kindness-. ChifBet imagined, that
these bounties and honours obliged him to take up arms
against all who were at variance with his master ; and ac*>
cordingly wrote his book entitled " Vindioise Hispanicae,"
against the French. He wrote several pieces in Latin,
which were both ingenious and learned, and were collected
and published at Antwerp, 1659, fol.
His medical works were, ** Singulares ex curationibns
et cadaverum sectionibus observationes,^' Paris, 1611, 8vo,
in which he is weak enough to suppose many diseases to
be produced by the influence of the stars, but there are
nevertheless some useful and valuable observations in this
volume. *^ Pulvis febrifugus orbis American! ventilatus,*'
Lorain, 16^3, 4to. Intermittents that had' been stopped
by taking the J Peruvian bark^ frequently, he says, returnr,
and with increased violence ; he therefore dissuades from
using it.
Chifflet died in 1660, leaving a son, John Chifflet, who
afterwards made a figure in the republic of letters, parti-
cularly for his knowledge of the Hebrew. He had another
son, called Julius Chifflet, well* skilled in languages and
in the civil law, and who bad the honour to be invited to
Madrid by the king of Spain in 164S, where he was made
chancellor of the order of the golden fleece: He published
the ^< Hist, du Chevalier Jaq. de Lalain,'*' Brussds, 163^^,
4to; " G6nealogie de la Maison de Rye," 1644, folio;
*^ G6\\63iogie de la Maisdn de Tassis,'' 1645; fol; His^-
toria Velleris Aurei," Ant? 1653, 4to. Tbete was als6
Philip Chifflet^ canon, of Befian^on, &c. ^ Laurence and
Peter Francis Chifflet, Jesuits, who were all men of high
reputation \p the^learned world. The last-mentioned, who
died May II, 1682, aged ninety^two, left various woAs t
among the rest,^^^ L*Histoire de I'Abbaye' de Tournus,"
1664, 4to ; ^> Lettre sur Beatrix- Comtesse de Champagne/^
There hav^ been other learned men of this name, as may
be seen in Moreri, who is rather prblit on this family.^
CHILD (Wiluam), Mus. D. was a native of Bristol
anc^ a disciple of Elway fievifi. In 1 63 1, being then oF
I Moreri.— H«n«r BiU. M4d.-*SakU Onoduut
270 CHI LD. '
Christ- church <iollege, Oxfori), he took bis degree of btf*
chelor in music ; and in 1636, was appointed one of the
organists of St George's chapel at Windsor, in the roeHn
of l>r. John Munday, and soon after one of the organists
of the royal chapel at White-hali. After the restoration
be was appointed chanter of the king's chapel, and one of
the chamber musicians to Charles II. In. 166 3, the uni-
versity of Oxford conferred on him the degree of do<^or
in music, at an act celebrated in St. Mary's church. Dn
Child, after having been organist of Windsor chapel sixty*
five years, died in that town 1697, at ninety years of age*.
In tbe inscription on his grav^^stone, in the same, chapel,
it is recorded that he paved the body of that choir at.his
,own expense; he likewise gave 20L towards building
the town -hall at Windsor, and 50L to the corporation to
be disposed of in charitable uses, at their discretion. His
works are '^^ Psalms for Three Voices," &c. with, a con-
.tinued base either for the organ or theorbo^ composed
after the Italian way, London, 1639. ^ Catches, Rounds,
and Canons," published in Hilton's <' Catch that C&tch
can," 1652. << Divine Anthems and Compositions to se«
veral Pieces of Poetry," some of which were written by
Dr. Thomas Pierce, of Oxford. , Someof his secular com-
positions likewise appeared in a book entitled ^^ Court
Ayres," printed 1655. But his priucipal productions are
his services and full anthems, printed in Dr. Boyce's col-
lection. His style was so remarkably easy aiui natural^
compared with that to which choirmen had been accus*
tomed, that it was frequently treated by them with de-
rision. Indeed, his modulation, at present, is so nearly
modern, as not to produce that solemn and seemingly new
effect on our ears, which we now experience from the
productions of the siocteenth century. There are several
inedited and valuable compositions by Dr. Child preserved
in Dr. Tudway's manuscript ^^ Collection of Engli^ Church
Music," in the British Museum.^
• CHILDREY (Joshua), . a divine and Mtural philoso-
pher, was bom in 1623, and educated, at Rochester,
.whence he removed to Magdalen^^coUege, Oxford, io
164^, and became one of the clerks of the house, but ap-
pears to haye left the university on the iMreakiug out^of
the rebellion* When Oxford was surrendered to the par-^
1 Buniey sad Hswkiai^ Hitt of Mttiic«
c H 1 L D R E Y. an
liameDtary forces, he returned and took his bachelox's
degree, but two years after was expelled by the parlia-
mentary visitors. He then subsisted by teaching . sbhool
at FeversbaiDy in Kent, although not without interruption
from the republican party ; but on the restoration, he was
made chaplain, to Henry lord Herbert, was created D. D.
and bad the rectory- of. Upway, in Dorsetshire, bestowed
upon him. In Jan. 1663, be was collated to the arch*
deaconry of Salisbury, and in June 1664 to the- prebend
of Yatmittster prim^ in the same church, by bishop Earle,
who valued him as a learned and pious divine, and a great
virtuoso. He died at Upway, Aug, .26, 1670, and was
buried in the Cancel of Us cbarcb. He published, 1. a
pamphlet entitled <^ Indago Astrologica,'' 1652, 4to. 2.
'^ Syzygiasticon instauratum,< or an Epheroeris of the places
and aspects of .the Planets, &c«" Lond. 1653, 8 vo. In
both these is socpexvhat too much leaning to the then
fashionable reveries of astrology ; but it appears by his
correspondence with the secretary of the royal society, that
he had. made large collections for a more* sound pursuit .of
the subjects usually investigated by that learned body,
particularly of > jiatural curiosities. His other publication
was entitled ^^, Britannia Baconioa,-or the natural raritiesv
of England, Scotland, and Wales, historically related, ac-
cording to the precepts of lord Bacon," &c." Lond. 16dJ,
8vo. It was this work which first suggested to Dr. Plot his
^VNatural History of Oxfordshire/^ .
CHILLINGWORTH (WiLUAM*), adivinoofthechucch
^f .England,' celebrated for ius coiutroversial talents, .was
>the soa of William ChiUingworth, citizen, afterwards «mayor
of Q:i|fi>rd, and bom. these. Oetobec . ] 602^ He was bap«
tizedon the. last of that months. Laud^ archbishop of Can*
terbary,. but then fellow, of St* John's-ccilege^ i>eing his
godfather.:. A&e(r he had biaen educated io grammar
learnii^ ^ & prinato school in thatieity, he was adibitted
H scholar of Trinity-college^. June 2, 161(8;, and elected
r felloNflf Juna <^ip,: I62^.;ra£ter h^vin^« t^kea his .degrees of
B. A« arid M. A«un tby^; regular way. . He did : not confine
.fai3 studies (0 divinity: be applied himself ivitk gceatsuc*
ceas tq;inf^tbematics; nand, 1 whit ^howwtbe^ extent of- his
genius,, he wastaUo aQoou^vted^a good.^aet:, ^ Accordingly,
1 1
" ' ' * AUip Ox, vqI. iLr^^aikeW ^u^Bnifs of the cUrgy,
J72 C H I L L I N G W O R T tt
sit John Suckling has mentiotied him in his Session of the
Poets : '
" There was Seldeti, and be set hard by the chair ;
Wainman not &r off, which was very hat.
Sands with Townshend, tor tfaey kept no order^
Pigby and ChiUingsworth a little further/'
The conrersation and study of the uhiirersity scholars, in
his time, turned chiefly upon the controversies between
the church of England and the church of Ronrfe, occa-
sioned by the uncommoti liberty allowed the Romish priests
by James I. and Charles I. Several of them lived at or
near Oxford, and made frequent attempts upon theyodng
acholars ; some of whom they deluded to the Romish re-
ligion^ and afterwards conveyed to the English seminaries
beyond sea. Among these there was the famous Jesuit:,
John Fisher, alias John Perse, for that was his true name,
who was then muoh at Oxfbrd ; and Cbiiiingworth '' being
accounted a very ingenious man, Fisher used ^11 possible
means of being acquainted with hiin. Their (Conversation
$oon turned upon the points controverted between the two
chiinches, but particularly on the necessity of an infeillible
living judg^ in matters of faitli. Chiltingwortfa found him*
self unable to answer >tbe arguments of tlie Jesuit on this,
head; and being convinced of the* necessity of such a
judge, he was easily brought to believe that this judge
was. to be found in the church of Rome ; that therefore the
church of Rome must be the true ^ church, and the only
dburch in which men could be saved. Upon thiahe for-
sook ^he communion of the church of England, and cor-
dially embraced the Romish religion.
" In order to secure his conquest, Fisher persuaded hini
to go over to the college of the Jesuits at Doway ; and he
was desired to set down in writing the'niotives or reasons
which had engaged hint to embrace the Romish religion.
But his godfttther, Laud, who was then bishop of London,
hearing of this afiair, and being extremely concerned at
it, wrote to. him; and Chiliihgworth*s answer expressing
much moderation, candour, and. iihparjtiality, that prelate
continued to correspond with him, and to press' hinni with
several argutiaent^ against ihe doctrine and practice of the
Bbmafnists. '^\s set him dpon a new inquiry, ^hicb had
the desired effect. But the place where he was not being
suitable to the state of a free and impartial inquirer, he
resolved to come back to England^ and left Doway ia
CHILLI N G W O R T B^ ^S^
i^Sly after a short stay there. Upon bis return, h^ was'
received with great kindness and affection by bishop Laud»,
who approved bis design of retiring to Oxford, of which'
tiniversity that prelate was then chancellor, in order to
complete the important work he was then upon, ** A free
Enquiry- into Religion." At last, after a thorough ex*ami*
nation, the protestant principles appearing to him the most
agreeable to holy scripture and reason, he declared for
them; and having fully discovered the sophistty of the
motives which had induced him to go over to the church
of Rome, he wrote a paper about 1634 to confute them,
but did not think proper to publish it. This paper is no\r
lost; for though we have a. paper of his upon the same
subject, which was first published in 1 687, among bis ad«
ditional discourses^ yet it seems to have been written on
some other occasion, probably at the desire of some of
bis friends. That his return to the church of England was
owing, to bishop Laud, appears from that prelate's appeal-
to the letters which passed, between them ; which appeal
was made in his speech before the lords at his trial, in order
to vindicate himself from the charge of popery. '
As, in forsaking the chutxsh of England, as well as in
returning. to it, he was solely influenced by a love of truths
so, upon the same principles, even after his return toprO'-
testantism, he thought ijt incumbent upon him to re^exa«-
mine the grounds of it. This appears from a letter he
wrote to Sheldon, containing some scruples he had about
leaving the church of Rome, and returning to the church
of England ; and these scruples, which be declared in«
genuously to his friends,, seemed to have occasioned a re^
port that he had turned papist a second time, and then
prot^stant i^ain. It would have been more just, perhaps^
to conclude that his principles were still unsettled, but, as
his retuni to the . protestant religion made much noise, he
became engaged in several disputes with those of the
Romish ; and particularly with John Lewgar, John Floyd
a Jeauit, who went under the name of Daniel, of Dan. a'
Jesu, and White. Lewgar, a great zealot for tl>e church
of Rome, and one who had been an intiniate friend of our
author, . as soon as he heard of his return to the church of
England^ sent him a very angry andabosive letter; to which
ChilliBgworth returned so mild and affectionate an answer,
that Lewgar could not help being touched with it^ and '
desired to see his old friend again. They bad a eonference
Vol. IX. T
I
f76 C H I L L I N G W O R T H.
notice of at the bottom of each page^ with the word* OxC
or Lond. after them. The tenth and last edition is of the
year 1742, with the "Life of Mr. CbilUngworth/* by Dr. Bircb^
lyhich life was copied into the General Dictionary^ 10 vols.
fol. The Jesuit Knotty as well as Floyd and Lacy^ Jesuits^
wrote against Chillingworth $ but their answers were soon
forgotten.
In the mean time he had refused preferment, Which wa9
offered him by sir Thomas Coventry, keeper cS the great
seal, because his consciei?ce would net allow mm to sub->
scribe the thirty-nine arilqlea. Con«derin^ that^ by,sub«
scribing the articles^ he must qot only declare^ willingly^
and €x animOf that every one of the sinticles is agreeable
to the word of God, mxt also that the book of commoir
prayer ebntained nothing contrary to the word of. God ^
th^t it might lawfully be used ; and that he himself would
ilse it : and conceiving at the same time that, both in the'
articles and in -the book of common prayer, there were
siome things repugnant to the scripture, or which were
not lawful to.f»e used, be fully resolved to lose for ever all
hopes: Q^; preferment, rather tbapi comply with &e sub-^
scriptiofls required. One of his chief objections to the
common, prayer related to the Athan^si^n creed, ther
daiQuatpry clauses of which he looked upon as contrary to
the wprd of Gp^* Another objection qoncemed the fourtb
<;pmniandmeDt^ which, by the prayer subjoined, to it^
*^ Lord, have merdy upon us,^^ &c. appeared t^ him to be
n^de a part of the Christian lawy and corvsequently to bind
Christians to the observation of the Jewish sabbath. . These
scruples of oc^ author, about subscribing the articles, fur-
liished his antagonist Knott with an ob^ctioh against hioo^
ajT ai^ improper champion for the protestant* cause. Tor
which he answers in the close of his preface to the *^ Re-
ligion' of Protestants.*'' He expresses' here not only bi9
readiness to subscribe, but also what he conceives to be
the sense and,ii>tent of such a subscription ; thait.is, a sub-'
scription of peace or union, and not of belief or assent, as
he formerly thought it was. This was also the sense of
archbishop Laud, with whiph he could not then be unac-
quainted ; and of his friend Sheldon^ who laboured to
convince hin» of it, md was„ no doubt, the person that
brought him at^ last into it. For there is in Des Maiseaux^st
a^comit, a letter which he wrote to Sheldon upon this oc-
casion ; and it seems tliere passed several letters betweefk
CHILLINGWORTH- 277
them upon ^is subject. Such at least is the apology wbieli
tkis biographers have o^ered for his ready subscriptioiii
' after it bad appeared to every impartial person that hisob*
Jections were insurmountable. The apology we think as
weak, as bis subscription was strong and decisive, runnkig
in the usual language, ^^ omnibus hisce articulis et singtiUs
In lisdeto amtentis volen;}, et e^ animQ . s.iibscriboy et c^<»
^nsum mtum iisdem pr^sb^o.'' The distinction, after sueh
a declaratljion, between pe^ce and union, afid belief and
assent, is, we fear, too subtle for conotmon understaodiogi*.
When, by whatever means, he bad got the better of Mi
scruples, he was promoted to the chanc^Uorsbip of Sali9*
bury, with .the prebend of Bri|f:worth, in Northampto{)$hin8^
annexed; and^ |ks appears from the subscription-book of
the church of ^lisbury, upon Ji^ly 20, 16S8, C!OQi||>Hdd
fvith the usual subscription, in the map^u^r just relsited;'
About the same time he was appointed mastin: Qf Wigston*^
hospital, in t<^icestershire ; ^^ both which," s^ya Wood^
^^ and {)erbaps some other preferHQents, k^ kept to bis
flying day/' In 1640 he was deputed by the chapter of
Salisbury th^eir proctor in ocHivocation. . He was likewise
deput/^ to ^e cQnvocation which ti^et the same year with
the new parliament, and was opened Nov. 4, In 1^42 b«
was put into the roll with some others by bis majesty, 1^
be created D. D. ; but the pivil war bt^^fiy o^ti he never
received it. He w^s zealously attached to. tb^ royal paM;y)
latnd at the siege of Gloucester,, begun Attg> 10, tQ43, wm
present in {the king^s army, where he a4y^d »ad directed
the making certain, engines, for ^ssau}ting th^ town, aft^
^he manner of ^e Roman tcstudin^s cum pl^Aw^ but whidi
tihe success of the enemy pr^v^nted bim itam .e9»|>loying^
jSoon aft^r, having accompanied the lofd ilopton, geneml
of the king's foixes in the west, to Arundel castle,, iq Su^SeK^
^nd choosing to repose himself in tfafit garrison, on accottnt
of an indisposition, opcaaioned by the severity of the seit't
son,. he was taken prisoner Dec. 9, .164$, by the pltr^
ment forces under the cojQAmand of sir WUlian^ Waller^
when the cjastle surrendered* £ut bi^ liUn^sa increasing^
and not being able to go to London witb the gfurrisan^ Jmt
obtained leave to be couvewd to (>hiche)ster<; wbem bei
was lodged in the bishop's p^ace^ ai^ where, after a sh^nrt
illness,, be died. We h^ve ^ )^ery particular It^^count o£
his sickqe^$ and* death, written by bis ^reat adversary, . Mr.>
Cheynell, in bis ^^ Chillingwortbi Novissima, or the sick-
^s
C H I L L I N G W O R T H.
ness, heresy, death, and burial, of William Chilling-'
worth, &c/* London, 1644, 4to. Cheynell accidentally
xnet him at Arundel castle, and frequently visited him at
Chichester, till he died. It v^s indeed at the request of
this gentleman, tliat our author was removed to Chichester;
where Cheynell attended him constantly, and behaved to
him with as much compassion and charity as his bigotted
and uncharitable principles would suffer him. There is na
reason^ however, to doubt the truth of CheynelPs account,
as to the most material circumstances, which prove that
Chillingworth was attended during his sickness, and pro-
Tided with all necessaries, by one lieutenant GoUedge,
and his wife Christobel, at the command of the governor
of Chichester; that at first he refused the assistance of sir
William Walier^s physician, but afterwards was persuaded
%to admit his visits, though there were no hopes of his re*'
coTery ; that his indisposition was increased by the abusive
treatment he met with from most of the officers who were
taken prisoners with him in Arundel castle, and who looked
upon him as a spy set over, them and their proceedings ;
and that during bis whole illness he was often teased by
Cheynell himself, and by an officer of the garrison of Chi*
Chester, with impertinent questions and disputes. ^ And on
the 8an>e ahtbority we may conclude that lord Clarendon
was misinformed of the particulars of his^ death ; for, after
having observed that he was taken prisoner in Arundel
castle, he adds : ^^ As soon as his person was known, which
would have drawn reverence from any noble enemy, thq
clergy that attended that army prosecuted him with all
the inhumanity imaginable ; so that by thair barbarous
usage, he died withiii a few days, to the grief of all that
hnew'him, and of many who knew him not, but by his
hook^ and the reputation he had with learned men.'*
From this it appears that the noble historian did npt know,
or bad forgot, that he was sent to Chichester, but believed
that he died in Arundel castle, and within a few days after
the taking of it by sir William Waller. Wood tells us
alsOy that the royal party in Chichester looked upon the
hBpertinemt discourses of Cheynell. to our author, as a
ahortening of his days. He is' supposed to have died Jan.-
30^- tBbugh 'the day is not precisely known, and was bu-
lied, acoording to hi$ own desire, ' in the cathedral church,
pf Chich^st^. Cheynell appeared at bts funeral^ and gav^
C H I L L I N G W O R T H. 27S
:43iat instance of bigotry and bufibonery which we have related
'already under bi$ article.
For his character Wood has given the following: ** He
was a most noted philosopher and orator, and, without
doubt, a poet also ; and had such an admirable faculty in
reclainiing schismatics and confuting papists, that none in
his time went beyond him. He had also very great skill
in mathematics. — He was a subtle and quick disputant, and
would several times put the king's professor to a push.
Hobbes of Malmesbury would often say, that he was like
a lusty fighting fellow, that did drive his enemies before
hitn, but would often give bis own party smart back-blows^
and it was the current opinion of the university^ that he
and Lucius lord Falkland,'' who by the way was his most
iutimate friend, ^' l>ad such extraordinary clear reason,
that, if the great Turk or devil were to be converted, they
were able to do it He was a man of little stature, but of
great soul: which, if times had been serene, and life
spared, might have don« incomparable services to the church
of England." Archbishop Tillotson has sf^oken of him in
the highest terms :^^ I know not how it comes to pass,!'
Stays that eminent prelate, ^' but so it is, that every on^
that offers to give a reasonable account of his £aith, and to
establish religion upon rational principles,, is presently-
branded for a Socinian ; of which we have a sad instance
in that incomparable person Mr. Chillingwortb, the glory
of this age and nation: who, for no other cause that I
know of, but his worthy and successful attempts to make the
Christian religion reasonable, and to discover those firm
and solid foundations upon which our faith is built, has
been requited with this black and odious character. (But,
if this be Socinianism, for a man to inquire "into the"*
grounds and reasons of Christian religion, and to endea)^
vour to give a satisfactory account why he believes it, I
know no way, but that all considerate and inquisitive men,
that are above fancy and enthusiasm, must be either Soci>>
nians or atheists." Mr. Locke has also spoken of Chilling^
worth with equal commendation. In a small tract, coob
taining ^' Some thoughts concerning reading and study for
a gentleman," after having observed that the art of speaks-
ing well consists chiefly in two things, .namely, perspicuity
and right reasoning, and proposed Dr^ Tillotson as.a pat*
I tern for the attainment of the art of speaking clearly, he
adds : *^ Besides perspicuity, thejce miist be also right
2tO ,C H I L L I N O W O R T a
tm^oning, Brilhout wbich, perspicuitv sevros but t6 ttacfiMiB
the speaker^ And for attaining of .tbts, I should {nrotloapttiid
'.Gon9t2^iH Beading oif ChiUingwortb, who, by bia ekample,
^ili .teacb both perspicuity and the way of tight reasoniiig^
rbetter than a^y book that I know i and thetadbre will de*
:SiSirv» to .be jr^d lupoD thait acoouoi cnrer «nd jover agaiii ;
jHOt to say any /thing of his m^ument.*^
LcMrd Clarendon^s ^aracter of him, -however, appeam
jraperior to any given by those wbo had no pcsrsoiud know-
ledge of ChiUingwortb. ** Mr. Obiliingworth,^* sa3its that
fudjaoirable portrait-painter, ^^ was of a statuiie little sup^if
•rioMT to Mr. Hales, (and it was an agpe in wiucb there •wei«
many great and wonderful 4asen of that size)' ami a inaKof
MO great a subtilty of uhdeni^ndifig, and so rare a tempei^
in debate, that as it was impossible topxiovoke him inisqp
any passion, so it was very diffieult to keep a man^s •self
irom being a little ^scomposed by his sharpness. Mi
quidmess of argument, and instances; in which he had ^
jrare. facility, and a great advantage over all the qo^n I «veif
knew. He bad spent all his younger tioie in 4ispu4^oti i
^jul bad arrived to so great a mastery, as he was inferioii
to no man in those skirmisrties ; but be had, witb bi^-n^^tt-
ble perfection in this exercise, eontraoted such an irreso*
lutioQ, and h^bit of dpubtkig, thftt iby^ "degiees he gr6«^
confident of nothing, and a sceptic at least, in tbe greatest
ipy^teries of faith.
. >^This inade him from first wavering it| religion, an^
indulging to scruj^les, to reconcile bi0self too soon, am)
too easily to the church of Rome ; and carrying still bii
9wn ipquisitiveness about him, without any resignation t<>
their authority (which is the only temper can makq
that cbvircb spre of its proselytes) having made a journey
to St Om^s (Doway), purely to perfect his oonvevsion,
by the conversation of those who ha4 the greditest name,,
be fouod as little satisfaction there, and returned with as
much baste from them; with a belief that an entire e)^-
^mption from error was neither inherent in, nor necessary'
to any church :< which occasioned that war, which was car-?
vied on by the Jesuits with so great asperity and re«
proaches against him, and ^ in which he defende'd himself
by such an admirable eloquence pf language, and clear,
and incom^parable power of reason, that be qot only made
tbem i^pear unequal adversaries, but. carried tbe war ioto'
|bpir awn quarters ; and mad^ tbe pope^s infallibility to be
JD H I L L I N O W O It T H. Ml
^imooh Aludcen, »iid dedioed by theit own doctors (and
as great an acrimouy amonggt themselves upon that subjeci^
aad to be 4U least as much doubted, as in the schools of
the reformed or pi»testaiit; and forced tbem since^ to
defend and maintain those unhappy controversies in reti-
gion, with arms and weapons of another iiatnre, than werb
used) or known in the church of Rome, whenBellarmine
died ; and which probably will i& time undermine the very
iiattudation that supports it.
'* Such a levity and propensity to change is commonly
attended with great infirmities in, and no less reproach
and prqudioe to the person ; but the sincerity of his heart
was so conspicuous and without the least temptation of any
comipt end, and the innocence and candour in Us nature
#0 evident and without any perverseness ; that all who
ifjkew him, clearly discerned, that all those restless motions
and fluctuations proceeded only fmm the warmth and jea*
Ipttsy of bis own tbonghts, in a too nice inquisition for
truth. Neither the books of the lidversary, nor any of
their persons, though he was acquainted with the best of
both, had ever made groat impression upon him : all hh
dosibts gr^w out of himself, when he assisted his scruples
with all the strength of his own reason, and was then tab
})ard for himself; but finding as little quiet and repose in
Itfaose victories, he quickly recovered, by a new appeal tb
bis own judgoient; so that he was in truth, upon the mat-
ter, in all his sallies, and retreats, his own convert ; though
be was not so totally divested of all thoughts of this world,
but that when be was ready ibr it, he admitted some greiit
and considerable churchmen to be sharers with him in his
public oonversion.
^* He did readily believe all war to be unlawfiit ; and
did not tbiffk that the parliament (whose proceedings he
|>erfectly abhorred) did in truth intend to involve the na-
tion in a civil war, till after the battle of Edgehilt ; and
then he thought any expedient, or stratagem that was like
fo put a speedy end to it, to be the most commendable. '
*^ He was a man of excellent parts, and of a cfaeerfaf
disposition; void of all kind of vice, and endiked With
fnany notable virtues ; of a very public heart, knd' an 'in-
defatigable desire to do good ; bis ^nly unbappiness pro**
oeeded from his sleeping too little, and thinking too much ;
whjch sometimes threw him into violent fevers.'* <
sm CHILLING WO R T tt
With respect to his inclination to Socinian tenets, that
pdint has heen so clearly demonstrated by the. late Mr*
Whitaker, in his <' Origin of Arianism disclosed/' p. 482-r-
.492^ as to admit of no doubt. Dr. Kippis, in the last
edition of the 3iograpbia Britannica, acknowledged him-
self to be convinced by Mr. Whitaker's testimonies and
reasonings, and therefore retracted what he had said on the
subject, in a preceding volume.
Besides the works already noticed, there are extant of
Mr. ChilUngworth's, ^^ Nine Sernions on occasional sub-
jects,'' 1664^, 4to; and a tract called ^^ The Apostolical
Institution of Episcopacy," 1644, 4to« It was also added
to an edition of a tract on the same subject, by Dr. Morton,
bishop of Durhaqa, entitled ^^ Confessions and proofs of
protestant divines," 1644, 4to. A volume. of bis manu-
script tracts, chiefly of the controversial kind, is among
the manuscripts in the Lambeth library, which. archbishop
Teuison purchased of Mr. I^enry Wharton. Mr. Chilling-
worth left his relations residuary legatees to his property,
after a few trifling legacies, and the sum of 400/. to the
corporation of Oxford for charitable purpoaies. ^ .
CHILMEAD (Edward), an excellent Greek and Latin
scholar and mathematician, was born in 1610 at Siow in
the Wold, in Gloucestershire, and became one of the clerb
of Magdalen college, Oxford; and in 1632, one of the petty
carions or chaplains of Christ church. Being ejected from
this by the parliamentary visitors in 1648, he came to
London in great necessity, and took lodgings in the bouse
of Thomas Est, a musician and music pripter, in Alders^
^gate street. There being a large ropm in this house, Chil-
mead made use of it for a weekly music meeting, from the
profits of which he derived a slender subsistence,. aQ4 Pro-
bably improved it by being employed as translator. He
died in 1653, having for some years received relief from
Hdward Bysshe, esq. garter kipg at. arms, and sir Henry
Holbrook, the translator of Procopius. He was interred in
the church of St. Botolph without Aldersgate* Among
bis works, qur musical historians notice his tract ^' De
musica antiqua Gra&ca,'' printed in 1672, at the end of the
Oxford edition of Aratus: he abo wrote annotations on
three odes of Dionysius, in the same volume, with the
•- •
' Life by Des Malzeauz, London, 1725, 8vo. — Gen. DicJt. — Biog. Brit-^
Cheyneil's ChilliDsworthi No^issima.— Clarendon's Life, — Ath. Ox. vol. IL
C H I L M E A D. ass
anicient Greek musical characters, which Chilmead ren-^
dered in the notes of Guido*s scale* His other works are,
1. *^ Versio Latina et Annotationes in Joan. Malaise Chro-
Bographiam/* Oxf. 1691, 8vo. 2. A translation, from the
French of Ferrand, of ** A Treatise on Love, or Erotic
Melancholy,*' 1640, Svo. 3. Gaffarel's *« Unheard-of Cu^
liosities/' 4. Campanella's ** Discourse touching the
Spanish monarchy," which not seiling, Prynne prefixed aa
epistle and a new title, *^ Thomas Campanella's advice ta
the king of Spain, for obtaining the universal monarchy of
the world," Lond. 1659, 4to. 5. Hues' ^•'Treatise of the
Globes," ibid. 1639 and 1659; and 6. Modena's << History
of the Rites, Customs, &c. of the Jews," ibid* 1650. He
also compiled the ^* Catalogus MSS. Gseecorum in BibL
Bodl/* 1636, a manuscript for the use of the Bodleian,
and the most complete of its time. ^
CHILO, one of the -wise men of Greece, as they arc
called, flourished about the first year of the fifty-sixth^
Olympiad, or 556 B. C. Diogenes Laertius, however^
think? he was an old man in the fifty -second olympiad.'
Fenelon, with his usual respect for the ancient philoso**
phers, asserts that he was a perfect model of virtue. About
the fifty-fifth olympiad, he was made one of the ephprt
at Lacedsmon, a dignity ^which counterbalanced the au«
thority 6f the kings. He appears to have been supersti*
tiously attached to divination, and stories are told of his'
fi^retelling future events, which he contended might be
done by the human intellectl He died at Pisa^ through
excess of joy, when embracing his son, who had retomed
ffom the Olympic games, crowned as victor. He executed
the offices of magistracy with so much uprightness, that in
bis old age, he said, that he recollected nothing in his public
eonduct which gave him uneasiness, except that, in onein*^'
fttance, be bad endeavoured to screen a firiend from punish-:*
menti He held, however, the selfish maxim of Pittacus^
that ^^ we ought to love as if we were one day to hate, and
bate, ad if we were one day to love.'* The more valuable
of hu precepts and maxims, were :< — ^Three things are dif**
ficult: to keep a secret,* to bear an injury patiently, and
to spend leisure well.-^Visit your fviend in misfortune
rather than in prosperity. — Never ridicule the unfortunate.
<v!r>Think befbfre you speak.-^— Do not desire impossibilities*.
\ Ath. 0;|. wl. ll.«*9awkini's Hisfc. of Musk:.
2011 C H I S H U L L.
a sennon, on the 23d of November, at SeijeftntViitil
^hapel, in Chancery'laney which was published in the
beginning of 1708, and was entitled, *^ The great Danger
and Mistake of all new. uninspired Prophecies relating to
the End of the World,'' with an appendix of historical
collections applicable to subject. On the 1st of SepteoA-
ber, in the same year, he was presented to the vicarage of
Walthamstow, in Essex; and in 1711, he had the honour
of being appointed one of the chaplains in ordinary to the
^ueen. About the same time, he pubHshed a visitation
Mid, a few other occasional sermons, preached on public
occasions, all which were favourably received. But he^
soon became, more distinguished for his researches in an-
cient literature and history*
One of his first publications in these sciences appeared in*
1721, and was entitled, . <^ Inscriptio Sigsea antiquissin&a
BOT£TPO$HAON exarata. Commentario earn Historico-
Grammatico-Critico illustravit Edmundus Chishuil, S.T.B*
' retgiae majestati a sacris,'' folio. This was followed by'
^VNotarum ad inscriptionem Sigaeam appendicula ; addit&
a Sigaeo alter^ Antiochi Soteris in^criptione,'' folio, in
fifteen pages, without a date. Both these pieces were
afterwards incorporated in his << Antiquitates Asiaticae.**
When Dr. Mead, in 1724, published his Harveian oration^
delivered in the preceding year at the royal college of
physicians, Mr. Chishuil added to it, by way of appendix^-
*^ Dissertatio de Nummis quibusdam k Smyrnseis in Medi-
corum honorem percussis,^' which gave rise to a contro-»
versy very interesting to the professors of the medical art,
and amusing to the learned world in general. The ques*
tion was, whether the physicians of ancient Rome were not
usually vile and despicable slaves, or whether there were
not some, at least, among them, who enjoyed the privileges
of a free condition, and the respect due to their services. '
The history of this controversy will be found in the articles of
Mead and Middleton ; but Mr. Chishuil has not been deemed
happy in all his explanations of the Smyrnsean inscriptions*
In 1728 appeared in folio, his great work, '^Antiqui-
tates Asiatics^ Obristianam JEram autecedentes ; ex pri-
mariis Monumentis Grsecis descriptse, Latine v^sse, Notis-^
que et Comquentariis illustrates. Accedit Monumentum
Latinum Ancyranum.'' Dr. Mead contributed fifty-one
guineas. Dr. William Sherard twenty, and* Dr. Lisle five
guineas towards this book^ which was published by sub-
CHISfiULL. S37
ittriptioQ, afc on& goitiea the common copy, and twa gui«^
peas the .royal paper. The work contains a collection of^
ioscriptions made by consul Sherard, Dr. Picenini, and
Dr. Lisle, afterwards bishop of St. Asaph, which was de-
posited in the earl of Oxford's library, and is now in the
British Museum. Mr. CbishaU added to the ^^ Antiquitate»
Asiatics^'' two small pieces which be had before published^
mz, ^^ConjectaneadeNummoCKIini inscripto/' and ^^ Iter
AsisB Poeticum,'' addressed to the rev. John Horn. Our
author not having succeeded in his explication of an in*
jvcription to Jupiter Ourios, ' afterwards cancelled it, and
substituted a different interpretation by Dr. Ashton, which
was more satisfactory; but our author did- not submit in
ihis case with so good a grace as might have been wished^
^d was reasonably to be expected. He added also, at the
saoae time, anoth^ half sheet, with the head of Homer, of
which only fifty copies were printed. He had formed the
design of publishing a second volume, under the title of
'^ Antiquitates Asiaticae ; pars altera diversa, diversarum
Urbium inscripta Marmora complectens,*' and the printing
was begun ; but the author's death put a stop to the pro-
gress of it, and the manuscript was purchased at Dr. As-
I^ew'ssale in 1785 for the British Museum, for about 601.
It is to be regretted that the learned Thomas T3nrwhitt de-
clined being the editor of this second volume. Mr. Chi- :
shuirs printed books were sold by a marked catalogue by
lyhiston in 17^5. In 1731, Mr. Chishull was presented
to the rectory of South-church in Essex. This preferment
he did ^ot long live to enjoy ; for he departed the present
life at Waltliamstow, on the 18th of May, 1733. Mn
Clarke, of Chichester, writing to Mr. Bowyer, says, '^ I was
viery sorry for Mr^ ChishuU's death as a public loss." That -
our author sustained an excellent character, as a clergy-
man and a divine, cannot be doubted. Two letters, writ-
ten by him to bis friend Mr. Bowyer, and which Mr.
Nichols has preserved, are evident proofs both of the piety
and benevolence of his disposition. With respect to hi^
literary abilities, Dr^ Taylor styles him " Vir celeberrimus
iBgenii acumine et ^terarum peritta, quibus excellebat'
maxime ;'' and Dr. Mead has bestowed a high encomium
i:q»on him, in the.preface which introduces Mr. ChishuU^s.
Dissertation on the Smyrnaean Coins. The same eminent
pbjrsician testified his regard to the memory of his learned
friend, by publishing in 1747 our author's "Travels in
fSS CHISHULL.
I
Turkey, and back to England/' fol. They were originally
poblisbed at a guinea, in sheets,, and in 1759, the remain^-
ing copies, which were numerous, were advertised by tbo
proprietors at fourteen. shillings bound.'
CHISI, or CHIGI, or GHISI (Agostixi), a merchant
at Rome, and a patron of literature and the artst was a na*^
tive of Siena, in the fifteenth and sixteenth: centuries, who-
having frequent occasion, in his mercantile coaeernB, to
lesort to Rome, at length fixed his abode there, and erects
ed for himself a splendid mansion in theTmnstevere, which
he decorated with works in painting and sculpture by ther
greatest artists of the time. He had long been considered
as the wealthiest merchant in Italy ; and on the expeditiait
of Charles VIIL against the kingdom of Naples^ had ad-^t
vaiiced for the use of that monarch a considerable sum of
moneyy which it is thought he never recovered; His wealtla
be employed in encouraging pahiting, sculpture, and every
branch of the fine arts, and likewise devoted himself tothcr
restoration of ancient learning. Among the learned meii
whom he distingoisbed by his particular favour, was Cor«
nelio Benigno of Viterboy who united to a sound critical"
judgment an intimate acquaintance with the Greek tongue^
and had before joined with a few other eminent «cholarsia
revising and correcting the geographical work* of Pt(4o«
ssseus, which was published at Rome in 1507. Under the
patronage of Chisi, Comelio produced atZaccaria Callier«»
go's press, the fine edition of the works of Pindar, 1515^
4to, the first Greek book printed at Rome ; and from the
same press issued the correct edition of the Idyilia and
Epigrams of Theocritus, 1516. It is. said that it was not
only in his patronage of letters and of the arts that Chisi
emulated the Roman pontif!s, but vied with them also i»
the luxury of his table, and the costly and ostentatious ex -^^
travagance of bis feasts. His death is said to have oecurred
in 1520. After this event, his family were driven froat
Rome by Paul III. who seized upon their mansioft in the
Transrevere, and converted it into a sort of aqipendage to
the Famese palace, whence it has since been called the
Farnesina. But in the ensuing century, the family of
Chisi, or Chigi, rose to pontifical honours in the person of
Alexander VII. Fabio Chigi ; who established it : in great
- 1 Biog; Brit, from infornuticm chieSy in Kichok-s BoirfeP| whsm Me
curioas letters of Mr. CiMihull.'-Atik Ov^o^* II*
C H I S I. S89
«i^t^ witifaout, however, restoring to it the family mao^
sion, which has descended with the possessions of the Far*
Bese to the king of Naples, to whom it now belongs. ^
CHOISI (Francis TiMOLEON de), dean of the cathedral
at Bayeax, and one of the members of the French aca- '
demy, was born April 16, 1644, at Paris. He was sent to
the king of Siam, with the chevalier de Chauimont in 1685,
and ordained priest in the Indies by the apostolical vicar.
He died October 2, 1724, at Paris, aged Hi. Although his
life in our authorities is very prolix, he seems entitled to
very little notice or respect. His youth was very iVregular.
Disguised as a woman, under the name of comtesse dea
BarreSj he abandoned himself to the libertinism which su<^
a disguise encouraged ; but we are told that he did not act
thus at the time of writing his ecclesiastical history ; though
sudi a report might probably arise from his having been so
accustomed from his youth to dress in woman^s clothes, to
please Monsieur, brother of Louis XIV. who liked such
amusements, that be wore petticoats at his house as long as
iie lived, equally a disgrace to himself and his patron. The
principal of his works are, 1 . ^' Quatre Dialogues sur I'lm^
mortality de TAme," &c ; which he wrote with M. Dan-»
geau, f2mo. 2. "Relation du Voyage de Siam," 12mo.;
S. **HistDijres de Piet6 et de Morale," 2 vols. 12mo. 4.
^^ Hist. Ecclesiastique,'' 11 vols, in 4to, and in 12mo. 3:
** LaVie de David, avec une Interpretation des Pseisiumes,^*
4to. 6. <*The Lives of Solomon j of St. L6uis, 4to; of
Philip de Valois, and of king John, 4to ; of Charles V. 4to;
of Charles VL 4tp ; and of Mad. de Miramion, 12mo; his
Memoirs, 12mo. These are all superficial works, and have
found readers only from their being written in that free and
natural style which amuses the atteotion. What he wrote
on the French history has been printed in 4 vols. 12mo.
His Ufe was published at Geneva, 1748, 8vo, supposed to
be written by the abb6 d'Olivet, who has inserted in it the
Historyof la comtesse des Barres, 1736, small 12mo, written
by tfae^bb^ Choisi himself/'
' CHOKIER (John Ernest de), the brothear of Erasmus
de Surl^, lord of Chokier (one of the ablest lawyers of his
time, who died in 1625), was born at Liege Jan. 14, 157]>
of .an ancient and noble family^ * He studied lai# at the
university of Lova^ne, and especially the Roman history
* Roscoe's Leo.— Gen. Diet* art Chi^i.
^ D'Alembert's Hist, de Pacad. Franc. — Moreri.
Vol. IX. U
290 C H O K I E R.
and antiquities under Lipsius. After taking the degree of
doctor in canon and civil law at Orleans, he went to Rome,
and was introduced to pope Paul V. On hij return to
Liege, he received some promotion in the church ; and
Ferdinand of Bavaria, bishop and prince of Liege, made
him vicar-general of his diocese, and one of his cbunsel-
lors. Chokier.was not more esteemed for his learning than
for his benevolence, which led him to found two hospitals,
one for poor incurables, and the other for female penitents.
He died at Liege, either in 1650 or 1651; but his bio*
graphers have not specified the particular time, although
they notice that he was buried in the cathedral of Liege,
under a magnificent tomb. Among his works, are, 1.
** Notae in Seneca^ libellum de tranquillitate animi," Leige,
1607, Svo. 2. " Thesaurus aphorismorum politicorum,
sen commentarius in Justi-Lipsii politica, cum exemplis,
notis et monitis," Rome, 1610, Mentz, 161^, 4to, and with
corrections and the addition of some other treatises, at
Liege, 1642, folio. Andrew Heidemann translated this
wbrk into German, but with so little fidelity, as to oblige
the author to publish against it in a volume entitled '^ Spe-
cimen candoris Heidemanni,'' Liege, 1625, Svo. 3. "Notae
et dissertationes in Onosandri strategicum," Gr. and Lat.
1610, 4t6, and inserted in the latter editions of his
*^ Aphorismi." 4. " Tractatus de permutationibus bene-
ficiorum'," 1616, 8vo, and afterwiirds Rome, 1700, folio,
with other treatises on the same subject. 5. " De re num-
maiia prisci sevi, collata ad sestimationem monetas presen-
tis," Cologne, 1620, Svo, Liege, 1649. . Another title of
this work we have seen is ** Monetae antiques diversarum
gentium maxime Romanae copsideratio et ad nostram ho->
diernam reductio." He published some other works on
law subjects and antiquities of the courts of chancery, the
office of ambassador, &c. ; and some of controversy against
the protestants, and one against the learned Samuel Ma-
rets, entitled " Apologeticus adversus Samuel MaresU
librum, cui titulus, Candela sub modio posita per clerum
Romanum,*' 1635, 4to ; but he had not complete success
in proving that the Roman catholic clergy at that time
did not ^< hide their candle under a bushel.*' *
CHOMEL (James Francis), a French physician, was
the son of Noel Chomel, an agriculturist, and the author of
1 Moreri.«^Foppeb Bibl» Belg.-^Saxii Onomast.
C H O M £ L. 291
the ** Dictionnaire oeconomique," of which we have an
English translation by Bradley , 1725, 2 vols, folio* He was
born at Paris towards the end of the seventeenth century,
and studied medicine at Montpellier, where he took his
degree of doctor, in 1708. Returning to his native city,
he was appointed physician and counsellor to the king.
The following year he published " Universae Medicines
Theoricae pars prima, seu Physiologia, ad usum scholae ac-
commodata," Montpellier, 1709, 12mo ; and in 1734,
*^Traite des Eaux Minerales, Baines et Douches de Vichi,**
1734, 12mo, and various subsequent editions. To that of
the year 1738 the author added a preliminary discourse on
mineral waters in general, with accounts of the principal
medicinal waters found in France. His elder brother,
Peter John Baptiste, studied medicine at Paris, and was
admitted to the degree of doctor there in .1697. Applying
himself more particularly to the study of botany, while
making his collection, he sent his observations to the royal
academy of sciences, who elected him one of their mem-
bers. He was also chosen, in November 1738, dean of
the faculty of medicine, and the following year was re-
elected, but died in June 1740. Besides his "Memoirs**
sent to the academy of sciences, and his '^ Defence of
Tournefort,'* published in the Journal des Savans, he pub-
lished ** Abrege de PHistoire des Plantes usuelles," Paris^
1712, 12mo. This was in 1715 increased to two, and in
1730, to three volumes in 12mo, and is esteemed an useful
manual. His son, John Baptiste Lewis, was educated also
at Paris, and took his degree of doctor in medicine in
1732. He was several years physician in ordinary to the
king, and in November 1754 was chosen dean of the
faculty. He died in 1765. He published in 1745, 1.- " An
account of the disease then epidemic among cattle,** and
boasts of great success in the cure, which was effected, he
says, by using setons, imbued with white hellebore. 2,
^^ Dissertation historique sur la Mai de Gorge Gangre^
neaux, qui a regne parmi les enfans, en 1748:** the ma-
lignant sore throat, first treated of in this country by Dr.
Fothergill, about ten years later than this period. 3. ^^ £s-
sai historique sur la Medicine en France,*' 1762, 12mo.
He also wrote, ^* Vie de.M. Morin,*' and ^^Eloge hbtorique
de M. Louis Duret,** 1765.'
1 Diet. Hist— Haller Bibl. Med. et Bibl. Botaq.
U 2
292 e H O P I N.
CHOPIN (Rene), an eminent lawyer, born 1557, at
Bailleul in Anjou, was counsellor to the parliament of
Paris, in which situation he pleaded with great reputation
a long time, and afterwards, confining himself to his study,
composed a considerable number of works,, printed in 1663,
5 vols, folio ; and there is a Latin edition of them in 4 vols.
He was consulted from all parts, and was ennobled by Henry
III. in 1578, for his treatise '* De Domanio.'' What he
wrote on the custom of Anjou, is esteemed his best work,
and gained him the title and honours of sheriff of the city
of Angers. His books ^^ De sacr^ Politic Monastica,'' and
*^ De Privilegiis Rusticorum," are also much valued. Cho*
pin's attachment to the league drew upon him a macaronic
satire, entitled <* Anti-Chopinus,'' 1592, 4to, attributed to
John de Villiers Hohnan ; but the burlesque style of this
piece being unsuitable to the subject, it was burned by a
decree of council* The occasion of its being written was,
*^ Oratio de Pontificio Gregorii XIV. ad Grallos Diplpmate
a criticis notis vindicato,'' Paris, 1591, 4to, which is not
among Chopin's works. On the day that the king entered
Paris, Chopin's wife lost her senses, and he received orders
to leave the city ; but remained there through the interest
of his friends, upon which he wrote the eulogy of Henry IV.
in Latin, 1594, 8vo, which is also omitted in his works, as
well as <' Bellum Sacrum Gallicum, Poema,^' 1562, 4to.
He died at Parisian. 30, 1606, under the hands of the sur-
geon, who was cutting him for the stone. ^
CHOUET (John Robert), a learned philosopher, and
one of the most eminent magistrates of Geneva, was bom
there in 1642. He was the first who taught the philosophy
of Descartes at Saumur. In 1669, he was recalled to Ge»
neva, and gave lectures there with great applause. Chouet
became afterwards counsellor and secretary of state at Ge-
neva, and wrote a history of that republic. He died Sep-
tember 17, 1731, aged 89. His publications are, <^An
Introduction to Logic," in Latin, 1672, 8 vo; ^^ Theses
Physic8B de varia Astrorum luce,'' 1674, 4to; ^^Memoire
succinct sur la Reformation," 1694; ^^ Reponses si des -
Questions de Milord Townsend sur Geneve ancienne fiaites, .
en 1696, et publi^es en 1774." Besides these, he left in ,
MS. in 3 vols, folio, a work, entitled ^< Diverges Recbercbes ~
t Diet, L*A4Tocat.—]Xct. Hilt,— Moreri.
C H O U L. 293
sur PHist. de Geneve, sur son Gouvernement et sa Con-
stitution.***
CHOUL (William pu), a gentleman of Lyons, of the
sixteenth century, bailiff of the mountains of Dauphiny,
travelled over Italy to improve himself in the knowledge
of antiquity ; and is principally known by a scarce and ex-
cellent treatise of the '^ Religion and Castrametatidn of the
ancient Romans/* folio, Lyons, 1556, 1569, 4to, and 1580,
4to. This singular work of antiquities is remarkable, espe-
cially for its second part, which treats of the manner of
pitching and fortifying the camps used by the Romans, of
their discipline and their military exercises. It has been
translated into Latin, Italian, and Spanish: the Latin,
Amst. 1685, 4 to, the Italian, Lyons, 1559, folio; both edi-
tions are scarce, but less so than the French original,
though not so well executed. He has the honour of being
one o£ the earUest French antiquaries, but his countrymen
have {freserved no memorials of his personal history. The
last edition of the French Diet. Hist, attributes to him two
other treatises, "Promptuaire des Medailles,*' and "Trait6
des Bains des Grecs et des Romains,** but we suspect this
last is included in the larger work above mentioned. '
CHRETIEN (Florent), or as he was called Quintus
Septimus Florens Christianus, a French poet, was born at
Orleans Jan. 26, 1541. He was called Quintus, because
he was his father*s fifth child, and Septimus, because he
was born in the seventh month of his mother*s pregnancy*
He was well skilled in languages and in the belles lettres ;
and was tutor to Henry IV. whom he educated in the re-
formed religion; but he himself returned to the Roman
catholic church before his death, which happened in 1596.
He was author of some satires against Ronsard, tinder the
name of '^ La Bisironnie,** 1564, dvo; poems, printed scr
parately in 8vo, and some translations ; the principal of
which is that of Oppian, 4to. He had a part in the Satyrs
Menipeee. Notwithstanding his disposition to satire, he
preserved the attachment of his friends, and the genei*al
esteem of the public. Wjilliam his father, physician to
Francis I. and Henry II. translated some medical works into
xrench.*
t Momi.— •«!• t. Lit. de O^neTe. * Mbrnl'^-Diet Hi«t«9>8uii Onontit
! Moreri-^IKct. Hist«— >Baillet Juf enens dtt Satsbs, /
294 ' CHRISTIE.
CHRISTIE (Thomas), aa ingenious writer, was the son
of a merchant of Montrose in Scotland, where be was born
in October 1761 ; and after a good school education, was
placed in the counting-house by his father, whose opinion
was, that whatever course of life the young man might
adopt, a system of mercantile arrangement would greatly
facilitate hb pursuits. It is probable that he went through
the routine of counting-house business with due attention,
especially under the guidance of his father ; but his leisure
hours were devoted to the cultivatiofi of general literature
with such assiduity, that at a very early age he was qualified
to embrace any of the learned professions with every pro-
mise of arriving at distinction. * His inclination appears to
have led him at first to the study of medicine, and this
brought him to London in 1787, where he entered himself
at the Westminster Dispensary, as a pupil to Dr. SiI^Qlons,
for whom he ever after expressed the highest esteem. At
this time Mr. Christie possessed an uncomaM>n fund of ge-
neral knowledge, evidently accumulated in a long course
of reading, and knew literary history as well as most vete-
rans. While he never neglected his medical pursuits, and
to all appearance had nothing else in view, his mind con-
stantly ran on topics of classical, theological, and philoso-
phical literature. He had carefully perused the best of
the foreign literary journals, and could refer with ease to
their contents ; and be loved the society in which subjecte
of literary history and criticism were discussed. The writer
of this article, somewhat his senior in years, and not wholly
inattentive to such pursuits, had often occasion to be sur-
prized at the extent of his acquirements. It was this ac-
cumulation of knowledge which suggested to Mr. Christie
the first outline of a review of books upon the analytical
plan ; and finding in the late Mr. Johnson of St« PauPs
Church-yard, a corresponding spirit of liberality and enter-
prise, the "Analytical Review" was begun in May 1788;
and, if we mistake not, the preface was from Mn Christie's
. pen, who, at the same time, and long afterwards contributed
many ingenious letters to the Gentleman's Magazine, with
the editor of which (Mr. I^ichols) he long lived in habits of
friendship.
Having studied medicine for some time, under Dr. Sim-
mons, he spent two winters, attending the medical classes
at Edinburgh, and afterwards travelled, in search of general
knowledge, to almost every considerable town in the king^
CHRISTIE* 2^5
dooQi. where bis letters of recommendation^ his insatiable
thirst for ioformation, and above ali^ his pleasing manners,
and interesting juvenile figure^ procured him admission to
all who were distinguished for science, and by many of the
most eminent literary, characters he was . welcomed and
encouraged as a young man of extraordinary talents. He
then went to the continent for further improvement;
and while he was at Paris, some advantageous offers from
a mercantile house in. London, induced him to resume his
original pursuit, and to become a partner in that house*
This journey to Paris, however, prodiiced another effect,
not quite so favourable to his future happiness. Becoming
acquainted with mauy of the literati of France, and among
them, with many of the founders of the French revolution^
he espoused their principles, was an enthusiast in their cause,
and seemed to devote more attention, more stretch of mind,
to the study and support of the revolutionary measures
adopted in that country, than was consistent with the sober
pursuits of commerce. This enthusiasm, in which it must
be confessed he was at that time not singular, produced in
1790^ "A Sketch of the New Constitution of France," in
two folio sheets ; and in 1791, he enlisted himself among
the answerers of Mr. Burke's celebrated " Reflections," in
** Letters on the Revolution of France, and the new Con-
stitution established by the National Assembly,'* a large
8vo volume, which was to have been followed by a second y.
but the destruction of that constitution, the anarchy which
followed, and the disapppintment of his, and the hopes of
all the friend^ of liberty, probably prevented his prose-
cuting the subject. In 1792, havi'ig dissolved partnership
with the mercantile-house above alluded. to, he became a
partner in the carpet-manufactory of Messrs. Moore audi
Co. in Finsbury-square ; but in 1796, some necessary ar-
rangements of trade induced him to take a voyage to Suri-
nam^ where he died in the prime of life in October of that
year.
The materials Mr. Christie had collected for his Thesis,
when intending to take a medical degree, were afterwards
published in the *^ London Medical Journal'' in a letter to
Dr. Simmpns. l^ut his most valuable publication, although
much less known the^n it deserves, was a first volume of
^* Miscellanies, philosophical, medical, and moral," 1789,
a thick crown 8vo, containing 1. Observations on the lite-
rature of the primitive Christian writers i being an attempt
296 CHRISTIE.
to vindicate them from the imputation of RcMisseau and
Gibbon, that they were enemies to philosophjr and human
learning, originally read in the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland. At the time be wrote this, his mind was much
occupied by theological inquiries. 2. Reflections sug-
gested by the character of Pamphilus of Csesarea.
3. Hints respecting the state and education of the people.
4. Thoughts on the origin of human knowledge, and on the
antiquity of the world. 5. Remarks on professor M einers's
History of ancient opinions respecting the Deity. 6. Ac-
count of Dr. Ellis's work on the origin of sacred knowledge.
Most, if not all these were prepared for the press berore
he had reached his twenty*fifth year, and afford such an
instance of extensive reading and thinking as rarely occurs
at that age. '
CHRISTIE (Wiluam), M. A. probably a relation of
the preceding, was born near Montrose in 1730, and edu-
cated in King's college, Aberdeen, where he took his de-
grees, and was licensed to preach as a probationer ; but
not having interest to procure a living in the church, he
accepted of the place of master of the grammar-school of
Montrose, where he was greatly celebrated for his easy
and expeditious method of teaching the classics. He wrote
a ^^ Latin Grammar,'' and an " Introduction to the making
of Latin," both of which are well esteemed. He died at
Montrose in 1774, aged 44. ^
CHRISTINA^ queen of Sweden, one of the few sove-
reigns whose history is entirely personal, was the only child
of the great Gustavus Adolphus, by Maria Eleonora of
Brandenburg. She was bom Dec. 18, 1626, and succeed-
ed to the throne of her father when she was only five years
of age. During her minority, the long war with the Ger-
man empire, in consequence of the inviaision of Gustavus,
as supporter of the protestant league, was carried on by
able men, and particularly Oxentiem. Her education was
conducted upon a very liberal plan, and she possessed a
strong understanding, and was early capable of reading the
Greek historians. Thucydides, Polybius, and Tacitus, were
her favourite authors ; but she as early manifested a dis-
taste for the society and occupations of her sex^ and de-
lighted in manly sports and exercises. She aflfected Kke*
< Gent. Mag. 1797. — Personal knowledge. ^ ^
I From iho last edition of tbii Pictionarj.
C HT R I S T I N A. ' 297
wise an extraordinary love of letters, and even for abstract
speculations. When at the age of eighteen she assumed
the reins of government, she was courted by several
princes of Europe, but rejedted their proposals from various
motives, of which the true one appears to have, been a con-
ceited sense of superiority, and a desire to rule uncon-
trouled* Among her suitors were the.printe of Denmark,
the elector Palatine, the elector of Brandenburgh, the
kings of Portugal and Spain, the king of the Romans, and
Charles Gustavus, duke of Deux Ponts, her first cousin.
Him the people, anxious for her marriage, recommended
to her ; but she rejected the proposal, and to prevent its
renevi'al, she solemnly appointed Gustavus her successor.
In 1650, when she was crowned, she became weary and
disgusted with public affairs, and seemed to have no am-
bition but to become the general patroness of learning and
learned men. With this view, she invited to her court men
of the first reputation in various studies : among these were
Grotius, Descartes, Bocfaart, Huet, Vossius, Paschal, Sal*
masios, Naude, Heinsius, Meibom, Scudery, Menage, Lu-
cas, Holstenius, Lambecius, Bayle, and others, who did
not fail to celebrate her in poems, letters, or literary pro-
ductions of some other kind, the greatest part of which are
now forgotten. Her choice of learned men seems to hav6
been directed more by general fame, than by her own
judgment^ or taste for their several excellencies, and she
derived no great credit either as a learned lady, or as a
discriminating patroness of literature. She was much
under the influence of Bourdelot the physician, who gained
his ascendancy by outrageous flattery : and her inattention
to the high duties of her station di^usted her subjects.
She was a collector of books, manuscripts, medals, and
paintings, all which she purchased at such an enormous
expence as to injure her treasury, and with so little judg-
ment, that having procured some paintings of Titian at a
most extravagant price, she had them clipped ta fit the
pannels of her gallery.
In 1652 shfe first proposed to resign in favour of her
successor, but the remonstrances of the States delayed this
measure until 1654, when she solemnly abdicated the
crown, that she might be at perfect liberty to execute a
plan of life which vanity and folly seem to have presented
to her imagination, as a life of true happiness, the royal
oHum cum dignitaie. Some time before thb step„ Anthony
398 C H R I S T I N A,
Macedo, a Jesuit, was chosen by John IV. king of Portugal,
to accompany the ambassador he sent into Sweden to queen
Christina; and this Jesuit pleased this princess so highly,
that she secretly opened to him the design she had of chang-
ing her religion. She ' sent him to Rome with letters to
the general of the Jesuits ; in which she desired that two
of their society might be dispatched to her, Italians by
nation, and learned men, who should take another habit
that she might confer with them at more ease upon matters
o# religion. The request was granted ; and two Jesuits Virere
immediately sent to her, viz. Francis Malines, divinity
professor at Turin, and Paul Casati, professor of mathe-
matics at Rome, who easily effected what Macedo, the
first confidant of her design, had begun. Having made
her abjuration of the Lutheran religion, at which the Roman
catholics triumphed, and the protestants were discontented,
both without much reason, she began her capricious tra-
vels : from Brussels, or as some say, Inspruck, at which
she played the farce of abjuration, she went to Rome,
where she intended to fix her abode, and where she ac-
tually remained two years, and met w^th such a reception
as suited her vanity. But some disgust came at last, and
she determined to visit France, where Louis XIV. received
her with respect, but the ladies of the court were shocked
at her masculine appearance, and more at her licentious
conversation. Here she courted the learned, and appointed
Menage her master of ceremonies, but at last excited general
horror by an action, for which, in perhaps any other coun-
try, she would have been punished by death. This was tlje
murder of an Italian, Moualdeschi, her master of the horse,
who had betrayed some secret entrusted to him, .He was
summoned into a gallery in the palace, letters were, then
shewn to him, at the sight of which he turned pale, and
intreated for mercy, but he was instantly stabbi^d .by two
of her own domestics in an apartment adjoining that in
which she herself was. The French court w^s justly of-
fended at this atrocious deed, yet it met with vindicators,
among whom was Leibnitz, whose name was disgraced by
the cause which he attempted to justify. Christina was
sensible that she was now regarded with horror in France,
and would gladly have visited England, but. she received
no encouragement for that purpose from Cromwell : she
therefore, in 1658, returned to Rome, and resumed her
amrusements in the arts and sciences. But Rome had dq
CHRISTINA. 299
permanent charms, and in 1660^ on the death of Gustavus^
she, took a journey to Sweden for the purpose of recovering
her crown and dignity. She found, however, her ancienc
subjects much indisposed against her and her new religion.
They refused to confirm her revenues, caused her chapel
to be pulled down, banished all her Italian chaplains, and,
in short, rejected her claims. She submitted to a second
renunciation of the throne, after which she returned to
Rome, and pretended to interest herself warmly, first
in behalf of the island of Candia, then besieged by the^
Turks, and afterwards to procure supplies of men and
money for the Venetians. Some diflFerences with the pope
made her resolve, in 1662, once more to return to Sweden ;
but the conditions annexed by the senate to her residence
there, were now so mortifying, that she proceeded no far-
ther than Hamburgh, and from Hamburgh again to Rome,
where she died in 1689, leaving a character in which there
is little that is amiable. Vanity, caprice, and irresolution
deformed her best actions, and Sweden had reason to re-
joice at the abdication of a woman who could play the
tyrant with so little feeling when she had given up the
power. She left some maxims, and thoughts and reflec-
tions on the life of Alexander the Great, which were trans-
lated and published in England in 1753 ; but several let-
ters attributed to her are said to be spurious. ^
CHRISTOPHERSON (John), a learned English bishop,
was a Lancashire man by birth, and educated in St. John's
college, Cambridge. He was one of the first fellows of
Trinity college after its foundation by Henry VIH.in 1546,
and shortly after became master of it; and in 1554 was
made dean of Norwich. In the reign of Edward VI. he^
lived abroad in a state of banishment, in which, as he tells
us in the preface to his translation of Philo Judacus, be
was all the while supported by his college ; but upon
queen Mary's succeeding to the crown, returned, and was
made bishop of Chichester. He is said to have died a
little before this queen in 1558. He translated Philo Ju-
daeus into Latin, Antwerp, 1553, 4to, and also the eccle-
siastical histories of Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, Evagrius,
and Theodoret, Louvain, 1570, 8vo; Cologn, 1570, fol. ;
but bis translations are very defective. Valesius, in bis
> Lacomb'B Life of Christina.-— Unitr. History.— Wbitelocke'ft Jourpal- of the
Sv«difih Embassy, 1772, 2 vols. 4to.— Coxe's Trayels.
300 C H R I S T O P H E R S O N.
preface to Eusebius, says, that compared with Rufinus and
Musculus, who had translated these historians before him^
he may be reckoned a diligent and iearnea man ; but yet
that he is very far from deserving the character oif a good
translator : that his style is impure, and' full of barbarism ;
that his periods are long and perplexed : that he has fre-
quently acted the commentator, rather than the translator ;
that he has enlarged and retrenched at pleasure ; that he
has transposed the sense oftimes, and has not always pre*
^served the distinction even of chapters. The learned Huet
has passed the same censure on him, in his book ^< De In-
terpretatione." Hence it is that all those who have followed
Christopherson as their guide in ecclesiastical antiquity,
and depended implicitly upon his versions, have often
been led to commit great faults ; and this has happened
not seldom to Baronius among others.
Christopherson wrote also, about the year 1546, the
tragedy of Jephtha, both in Latin and Greek, dedicated
to Henry VIII. which was most probably a Christmas play
for Trinity college. It was said that he was buried iu ^
Christ Church, London, Dec. 28, 1558, but Tanner thinks
he was buried in Trinity college chapel, as in his will,
proved Feb. 9, 1562, he leaves his body to be buried on
the south side of the altar of that chapel. Strype, how-
ever, in the Introduction to his Annals, p. 31, describes his'
pompous funeral at Christ Church. It is more certain that
he joined his brethren in queen Mary's reign in the naea-
sures adopted to check the reformation.^
CHRYSIPPUS, a celebrated stoic philosopher, was born
at Soli, a city of Cilicia, afterwards called Pompeiopolis,
and was not the disciple of Zeno, as some have said, but{
of Cleanthes, Zeno's successor. He had a very acute
genius, and wrote a great many books, above 700, as we
are told, several of which belo)iged to logic ; for he ap-
plied himself with great care to cultivate that part of phi-
losophy. Val. Maximus relates, that he began bis 39th
book of logic when he was eighty years old : and Lucian,
who sought out absurdities in order to laugh at them, «ould
not forbear ridiculing the logical subtilties of this philoso-
pher. The great number of books he composed will not
appear so surprising if it be considered that his manner . |
was to write several times upon the same subject } to set . |
i
chrysip:pus, 301
down whatever came into his bead ; to take little pains in
correcting his works ; to crowd them with an infinite num«
her of quotations : add to all these circumstances, that he
was very laborious, and lived to a great age. Of his works
nothing remains except a few extracts in the works of
Cicero, Plutarch, Seneca, and Aulus Gelllus. He had an
unusual portion of vanity, and often said to Cleanthes,
^' Shew me but the doctrines^ that is sufficient for me, and
all I want; I shall find the proofs* of them myself." A
person asked him one day whom he should choose for a
tutor to his son ? " Me," answered Chrysippus ; " for, if
I knew any body more learned than myself I would go and
study under him." There is another apophthegm of his
preserved, which does him much more honour than either
of these ; and therefore we hope it is not spurious. Being
told that some persons spoke ill of him, ^^ It is no matter,"
said he, " I will live so, that they shall not be believed."
The stoics complained, as Cicero relates, that Chrysip-
pus had coMec^ed so many arguments in favour of the scep-^
tical hypothesis, that he could not afterwards answer them
bimself ; and had thus furnished Carneades their antagonist
with weapons against them. This has been imputed to his
vanity, which transported him to such a degree, that he
made no scruple of sacrificing the doctrines of his sect for
the sake of displaying the subtlety of his own conceits. The
glory which he expected, if he could but make men say
that he had improved upon Arcesilaus himself, and had
expressed the objections of the academics in a much
stronger manner than he, was his only aim. Thus most of
the contradictions and absurd paradoxes which Plutarch
imputes to the stoics, and for which he is very severe upon
them, are taken from the works of Chrysippus. Plutarcb-
charges him with making God the author of sin, and this
probably arises from his definition of God, as it is preserved
by Cicero, which shews that he did not distinguish the
deity from the universe. He thought the gods mortal, and
even asserted that they would really perish in the confla««
gration of the world : and, though he excepted Jupiter,
yet he thought him liable to change. He wrote a book
concerning the amours of Jupiter and Juno, which abounded
with so maioy obscene passages that it was loudly exclaimed
against, but Brucker seems to be of opinion that what he
advanced of this kind was merely in the way of paradoxi-
cal assertion, thrown out ki the coiurse of disputation, and
302 C H R Y S I P P U S.
foi% the sake of displaying his ingenuity. He is iuciiued
likewise to think that he is not justly chargeable with any
other kind of impiety than may be charged upon the sect
which he supported. It is, however, easy to guess that
the stoics had not much reason to be pleased with his
writings ; for, as he was a considerable man among them, —
so considerable as to establish it into a proverb, that *^ if
it had not been for Chrysippus, the porch had never
been,". — it gave people a pretence to charge the whole
body with the errors of so illustrious a member. Accord*
ingly we find that the celebrated authors among the stoics,
Seneca, Epictetus, Arrian, though they speak very highly
of Chrysippus, yet do it in such a manner as to let us see
that they did not at the bottom cordially esteem him. There
does not appear to have been any objection brought against
his morals, and he was sober and temperate^
Chrysippus aimed at being an universal scholar; and
wrote upon almost every subject, and even condescended
to give rules for the education of children. Quintilian has
preserved some of his maxims upon this point. He ordered
the nurses to sing a certain kind of songs, and advised
them to choose the most modest. He wished, that, if it
were possible, children might be nui'sed by none .but
learned women. He would have children be three years
under the care of their nurses ; and that the nurses should
begin to instruct them without waiting till they were older;
for he was not of the opinion of those who thought the age
of seven years soon enough to begin. He died in the
143d olympiad, eighty-three years of age, B. C, 208,
and had a monument erected to him among those of the
illustrious Athenians. His statue was to be seen in the
Ceramicus, a place near Athens, whei'e they who had been
killbd in the war were buried at the expence of the public*
He accepted the freedom of the city of Athens, which,
neither Zeno nor Cleanthes had done ; and is censured for
it^ but without much reason, by Plutarch. ^
CHRYSOLORAS (Emanuel), the principal of those
learned men who brought the Greek language and litera-*
ture into the West, was born at Constantinople, as it is
supposed, about 1355. He was of considerable rank, and
descended from so ancient a family that his ancestors are
1 Gen. Dict,<— Brucker's Hist, of Philosophy.— Diog. Uertios, fcc— Saxii
pnomftst.
C H R Y S O L O R A S. 303
said to have removed with Constantine from Rome to By-
zantium. He was sent ambassador to the sovereigns of
Europe by the emperor John Palseologus in 1387, to solicit
assistance against the Turks, and was here in England in
the reign of Richard II. In an epistle which he wrote at
Rome to the emperor, containing a comparison of ancient
and modern Rome, he says that he was two years before at
London with his retinue. When he had finished this Em-
bassy in somewhat more than three years, he returned to
Constantinople ; but afterwards, whether through fear of
the Turks, or for the sake of propagating the Greek learn-
ing, left it again, an4 came back into Italy about 1396, by
invitation from the city of Florence, with t\ie promise of a
salary, to open a school there for the Greek language.
With this he complied, and taught there for three years,
and had Leonard Aretin for his scholar. From Florence he
went to Milan, at the command of his emperor, who was
come into Italy, and resided in that city ; and while he
was here, Galeazzo, duke of Milah, prevailed with him to
accept the Greek professorship in the university of Pavia,
which had lately been founded by his father. This he
held till the death of Galeazzo, and then removed to Ve-
nice on account of the wars which immediately followed.
Between 1406 and 1409 he went to Rome upon an invita-
tion from Leonard Aretin, who had formerly been his
scholar, but was then secretary to pope Gregory XII. In
this city his talents and virtues procured him the honour of
being sent, in 1413, into Germany by pope Martin V. as
ambassador to the emperor Sigismund, along with cardinal
Zarabella, in order to fix upon a place for holding a ge-
neral council ; and Chrysoloras and the cardinal fixed upon
Constance. Afterwards he returned to his o^n emperor at
Constantinople, by whom he was sent ambassador with
others as representatives of the Greek church, to the coun-
cil of Constance; but a few days after the opening of the
council he died, April 15, 1415. He was buried at Con-
stance; and a handsome monument was erected over him,
with an inscription upon it by Peter Paul Vergerio. His
scholar Poggio also honoured his memory with an elegant
epitaph, and a volume of eulogies upon him lately existed
in the monastery at Camaldoli, justly due to one who con-
tributed so essentially to revive Grecian literature, which
had lain dormant in the West for seven hundred years*
Emanuel had a nephew, John Chrysoloras, who likewise
304 C H R Y S O L Q R, A S.
taught Greek in Ital ji and died in 1425. Emanuel^ ,
Greek Grammar was published soon after the invention of
printing, and there are a great many editions from 1480
to 1550, 4to and 8vo, almost all of which are very scarce. *
CHRYSOSTOM (John), one of the most learned and
eloquent of the fathers, was born at Antioch, of a noble £ai^
mily, about the year 354. His father, Secundus, dying when,
he was very young, the care of his education was left tQ ^
his mother, Anthusa. He was designed at first for the bar,^
aad was sent to learn rhetoric under Libanius ; who had
such an opinion of his eloquence, that when asked who
would be capable of succeeding him in the school, be an^
swered, ^^ Johp*, if the, Christians had not stolen him firomc
us/* He soon, hpwever, quitted all thoughts of the bar»
and being instructed in the principles of the Ghristiao re-
ligion, was afterwards baptized by MeletiuSf aud ordained
by that bishop to be a reader in the church of Antioch,
where he converted his two friends, I'heodorus and Mazi-
nips. While he was yet young, he formed a resolution of
entering upon a mpnastic life, and in spite of all remoii**
strances from his mother, about the year 374, he betook .
himself to the neighbouring mountains, where he lived fouf
years with an ancient hermit ; then retired to a more secret
part of the desert, and shut himself up in a cave, in which
situation he spent two whole years more ; till at lengthy
worn out almost by continual watchings, fastings, and other
severities, he was forced to return to Antioch, to his old
way of living.
He was ordained deacon by Meletius, in the year 381,
and now began to compose and publish many of \i\& works.
Five years after, he was ordained a priest by Flavian, in
which ofBce he acquitted himself with so much reputation,
that, upon the death of Nectarius, bishop of Constanti*
nople, in the year 397, he was unanimously chosen to fiU
that see. The emperor Arcadius, however, was obliged
to employ aJl his authority, and even to use some strata-
gem, before he could seduce Chrysostom from his native
Antioch, where he was held in so much admiration and
esteem. He sent in the mean time, a mandate to Tbeo*
philus, bishop of Alexandria, to consecrate Chrysostooi
bishop of Constantinople \ which was done in llie year
1 Hody de Graec. iliuitribus,— Bonier de Gnecis Lit. Graec* in Italia iiiftau*
ratoribuB.
C H R Y S O S T O M. 30«
39^9 notwithstanding the secret and envious attempts o^
Theopbilus to prevent it But Chrj'sostom was no sooner
at the head of the church of Constantinople, than that zeal
and ardour, for which he was afterwards famous, was em*
ployed in endeavouring to effect a general reformation of
manners. With this disposition, he began with the clergy,
and- next attacked the laity, but especially the courtiers,
whom he soon made bis enemies ; and his preaching is said
to have been eminently successful among the lower classes^.
Nor was his zeal confined altogether within the precincts of
Constantinople; it extended to foreign parts, as appears
from his causing to be demolished some temples and sta«
tues in Phoenicia; but all writers are agreed that his temper,
even in his best- duties, was violent, and afforded his ene-
mies many advantages.
In the year 400, he went into Asia, at the request of
the clergy of Epbesus ; and by deposing thirteen bishops
of Lydia and Phrygia, endeavoured to settle some disorders
which had been occasioned in that church. But while be
was here, a conspiracy was formed against him at home,
by Sieverian, bishop of Gabala, to whom Chrysostom had
committed the care of his church in his absence, and who
endeavoured to insinuate himself into the favour of the no*
bility and people, at Chrysostom's expence. He had even
formed a confederacy against him with his old adversary,
Theopbilus of Alexandria, which the empress Eudoxia en-
couraged, for the sake of revenging some liberties which
Chrysostom had taken in reproving her. By her intrigues,
chiefly, the emperor was prevailed upon to call Theophilus^
frodf) Alexandria, and he, who wanted an opportunity to
ruin Chrysostom, ckme immediately to Constantinople,
and brought several Egyptian bishops with him. Those of
Asia, also, whom Chrysostom had deposed for the tumults
they raised at Epbesus, appeared upon this occasion at
Constantinople against him. 7'heophilus now arrived, but
infltead of taking up his quarters with his brother Chry*
sostom, as was usual, be had apartmetits in the empress's
palace, where he called a council, and appointed judges.
Chrysostom, however, with much spirit, excepted against
the judges, and refused to appear before the council ; de«
daring that he was not accountable to strangers for any
supposed misdemeanour, but only to the bishops of his
owti and the neighbouring provinces. Notwithstanding
this, Theopbilus held a synod of bishops, to which he sum*
Vol. IX. X
J0« € H R Y S O S T O M.'
I
mdned Chrysostom to appear, and answer to various^a^^
tides of accusation. But Chryso^tom sent three bishops
and two priests to acquaint Theophilus and his synod, chat
though he was viery t'eady to submit himself to the jadg*
ment of those who should be regularly assembled, and have
a legal right to judge him, yet he absolutely refused to be
judged by him and his synod ; and having persisted in this
refusal four several timc^, he wa^ in consequence ide-
posed in the beginning of the year 403. The news of hjs
deposition was no sooner spread* about Constanthiople,
than all the city was in ^ sin uproar, and when tli^ emperor
ordered him to be banished, the people determined to
detain him by force. In three days, however, to preveiit
aiiy further disturbance, he surrendered him^lf'to those
who had orders to seize him, and was Conducted by tHeiii
to a smalt town in Bitliynia, as the residence of his oanisli-
ment. His departure made the people more outi^geoas
than ever : they prayed the emperor thatt he might be te-
called; they even threatened biiifi ; add Eudoxia was so
frightened with the tumult, that dhe herself solicited for it.
A numerous synod, assembled at Constantinople, 'now re-
tk;inded all former proceedings, and' Chrysdstom was re-
tailed in triumph ; but his troubles Were tioft yet at an
end. The empress aboui the latter end of this year had
erected her own statue near the church ; and the'pedple,
to do honour to her, bad celebrated the public games be-
fore it. This Chrysostom thought indecent ; and the fire
of his zeal, far from being extinguished by his late mlsfbr*
tunes, urged him to preach againn those who were cbh-^
cerned in it. His discpurse provoked the empress^ ii^fao
still retained her old ietimity to him ; and made ber resolv^
Once more to have him deposed from his bishopftic; ' Me
irritated her not a little, as soon a^ he was apprized^^bf 'he^
tiiachinations agaittst him, by most imprudently bdgintjlng
ibhe of bis sermons with these remarkable Word^ : ^^ Behbl4
the furious Herodias, insisting to have the bead ofiKyhni
Baptist in a charger!" We are not to wbndeir, thcfrdbrfi^
t^at a syiiod of bishops was assibmbfed, i^fio iitihiediatfefy
i^epos^d hin(i, alleging that he stood already deposed, 'by
virtue of the former setitence given'sigainst hitn 5 which^
they said, had never been reverted, nof himself re-^c?»ti-
blisKed in his see^ i:n that legal and orderly manner yfaiefai
the cations V requited. In eonsequeoee of that jiidg*
^en^ ^ the ' i^mper^r fbrbade: him to enter ~ the - cbu>ch[
C H R Y S O S T 0 M. 307
any morei and ordered bidi to b^ banished. His followers
and adherents were now insulted and persecuted by the
soldiery, and stigmatized particularly by the name of Jo-
hannites* He bad, indeed, a strong party among the
people, who would now have armed themselves in his de-
fence; but he chose rather to spend the remainder of his
clays in banishment, than be the unhappy cause of' a civil
war to his country ; and therefore surrendered himself a
second time to those who were to have the care of him*
He. set out in June 404, under a. guard of soldiers, to
Nicca, where he did not make any long stay^ but pursued
iiis journey to Cucusus, the destined place of his banish-
ment) at which he arrived in September. It is remarkaWe
that the very day Chrysostom left Constantinople, the
great church was set on fire and biirnt, together with the
palace, which almost adjoined to it, entirely to the ground.
irhe same year there fell bail-stones of an extradrdinary
size, that did considerable damage to the town ; which
calao^ity was also followed by the death of the empress
Eudoxia, and of Cyrinus, one of Cbrysostom's chief ene«*
mies. . All these were considered by the partisans of Cbry^
sostom, as so many judgments from heaven upOn the.
country which thus persecuted Chrysostom,
Cucusus was a city of Armenia^ whose situation was
remsirkably barren, wild, and inhospitable ; so that Chry«
sostool was obliged to change his place of residence fre-
quently, on account of the incursions which were made by
th^ barbarous nations around him* He did not, however,
neglect his episcopal functions ; but sent forth priests and
ttllOnks to preach. the gospel to the Goths and Persians, and
to take care of the churches of Armenia and Phcenicia.
Tl^is prqbably .provoked, his enemies, not yet satiated with
n^ve^gCf to molest hini even in this situation, wretched as
it wasj and they prevailed with the emperor to have him
iGfea^Or a desert region of Pontus, upon the borders of the
Euxinesea,. .But the fatigue of travelling, and tlie hard
iil3ag^.he'met with from the soldiers, who were conducting^
ifita Un^tber^ had suchaq effect upon him, that he was
seized with a violent fever, and died in a few holkrs, at
C.oinanis,:ia Armenia, in the year .407* Afterwards, th^
we&teqi and easterti cburohes were divided about him ; the
^rmer. bolting him id great veneration, while the latter
considered him as a bishop excommunicated. But the
death of j(ircadius, happening about five months after> the
308 C H R Y S O S T O M.
eastern churches grew softened by degrees ; and it is cer«
tain, that about thirty years after, his bones were removedl
to Constantinople, and deposited in the temple of the holy
apostles, with all pomp and solemnity. It was from his
eloquence, that the name of Cbrysostomus, or golden^
mouth, was given to him after his death, his usual name
being only John.
Chrysostoro was undoubtedly one of the most distin-
guished of the Greek fathers, and one of the most eloquent
preachers of his time. In his works he appears to have
aimed earnestly at reformation of manners, and much of
the manners of the times may be gleaned from his various
-^^nritings. We have seen that the intemperance of his zeal
.sometimes furnished his enemies with advantages which
. they would have sought without success in the purity of his
' life. He is said to have been from his youth of a peevish
und morose temper ; but he was open and sincere, spoke
what he thought, and was regardless of toonsequencesr*
The machinations, however, of his enemies, prevailed ai
last, and shortened the life of one of the most learned,
eloquent, pious, and charitable men of his age. His
language, says Dr< Blair, is pure, and his style highly;
figured. He is copious, smooth, and sometimes pathetic.
But he retains, at the same time, much of that character
which has been always. attributed to the Asiatic eloquence^
which i^ diffuse and redundant to a great degree, and often
Over-wrought and tumid. He may be read, however^ with
advantage, for the eloquence of the pulpit, as being freer
from false ornaments than the Latin fathers.
■
The editions of his works are very numerous. We shall
mention only that beautifully printed one by sir Henry
Saville, Eton, 1613, 8 vols, folio, the Greek only; and
Montfaucon^s in Gr. & Lat. 1718— 1738^ 1? vols, fol.*
CHUBB (Thomas), once a noted deistical writer, and
the idol of that party, was born at East Haroham, a small
village near Salisbury, Sept 29, 1679. His father, a
maltster, dying when he was young, and the widow having
three more children to maintain by her labour, he receive4
no other education than being instructed to read and writQ
an ordinary-hand. At fifteen he was put apprentice to ai
glover in Salisbury ^ and when his term Was eixpired, coa«
1 Dapin.— Life by £rataiat.-»Tillemoiit and '^Panaiia8.«»^Milner'f Ciu Bi<L
▼Ol. U. p« 279.
'• -4 #
C H U B B. sod
tusoed for a time to serve his master as a journeyman, but
this trade being prejudicial to bis eyesy he was admitted
by a tallow-chandler, an intimate friend of his, as com-
panion and sharer with him in his own business. Being
endued with considerable natural parts, and fond of reading,
he employed all his leisure to gain such knowledge as
could be acquired from English books ; for of Latin,
Greek, or any of the learned languages, he was totally
Ignorant : by dint of perseverance he also acquired a smat-t
taring of mathematics, geography, and many other branched
of science.
But' divinity was, unfortunately for himself^ his favourite
study ; and it is said that a little society was formed kt
Salisbury, under the management and direction of Chubby
tor the sake of debating upon religious subjects. Here the^ .
scriptures were at first read, under the guidance of some
commentator ; but in time every man delivered bis 8«nti«
ments freely, and without reserve, and commentators were,
no longer in favour, the ablest disputant being the man
who receded most from established opinions. About this
time the controversy upon the Trinity was carried on very
wamdy between Clarke and Waterland ; and falling under
the cognizance of this theological assembly, Chubb, at
the request of the members, drew up his sentiments about
k, in a kind of dissertation ; which, after it had undergone
some correction, and been submitted to Whiston, wha
saw pot much in it averse to his own opinions, published
it under the titl^ of ^^ The Supremacy of the Father as-
serted, &c." A litera]:y production from one of a mean
^tid illiberal education will alwavs create wonder, and a
tallow-^chandler arbitrating between such men as <])larke
and Waterland^ could not fail to excite attention. Those
who would have thought nothing of the work had it come-
txom the school of Clarke, discovered in this piece of
Chubb's, great talents in reasoning, as well as great per*-,
spicuity and correctness in writing; so that he began to^
We cdnsidered as one much above the ordinary sizeof maii«^'
Hence Pope, in a letter to his friend Gay, was led to ask
him if he had '^ seen or conversed with Mr. Chubb, whQ i»
k wonderful phenomenon of Wiltshire?" and says, in re*
Ijatidn to a quarto volume of tracts, which were printed
^ft^strwards, th%t h^ had *' read through his whole volume
with admiration of the writer, though not always with ap-«
probation of his doctrine." How rar Pope was a judge of
• 10 C H U B.B;
controyersial divinity is not now a question, but the friends
of Chubb appear to have brought forward his evidence
with triumph.
Chubb had no sQoner commenced author, than his suc-
cess in this new capacity introduced him to the personal
l^nowledge of several gentlemen of eminence and letters,
from whose generosity he received occasionally presents of
BQoney. We are even told that sir Joseph Jekyll, master of
the roU3> took him into his family, and used, at his hours df
i^etirement) to refresh himself from the fatigues of business
with his conversation ; but the value of this patronage is
considerably lesseoedf when it is added thai; sir Joseph
occasioually employed him to w^it {it table, as a servant
out of livery. Chubb, however^ as what is called an un*
jiaught genius, was generally caressed ; for nobody sus«
pected as yet, to what prodigious lengths he would suffer,
bis reasoning faculty to carry him. He did not coptinue
Baany years with sir Joseph Jekyll, though it is said he wasi
tempted to it by the offer of a genteel allowance, but re**
tired to hi$ friend at Salisbury, where he spent his days m
reading and writing, and assisting at the trade, which, by
the death of iiis partner, had devolved on a nephew, and
was .to the last period of his Ufe a coadjutor in it. Vet
that this may not appear a degradation, we are gravely
udd that he only ^d candles by weight in the shop, and
did not actually n^dAr^ tliem. In thi^ minced employment
he passed hjs life, and died suddenly at Salisbury, Feb. 8^
174$-7, in the sixty-eighth year of bis age.
He left behind him two volumes of posthumous works,
which he calls f * A Farewell to his readers,'* from which we
may fairly, form this judgment of his opinions: '^ that he
bad little .or np belief of revelation ; that indeed he plainly
rejects the Jewish revelation, and consequently the Chris-
ti^U) which is founded upon it ; that be disclaims a future
judgcQ^Ot, and is very unqertain as to any future state of ex*
isteoce ; that a particular providence is not deducible from
the . phenomena of the world, and Isherefore that pf ayer
cannot be proved a duty, &c» . &c.!' . With such a man wc^
may surely part without reluctance. The wonder is that
he should have ever drawn any considerable portioa of
public attention to the reveries id ignorance, presumption,
and disingenuous sophistry.. Like his legitimate. successor,
the late Thomas Paine, he was utterly destitute of that
learning and critical skill which is Qecessm-y to the expta*
nation of the sacred writings, which, however, he tortured
C,H, UBB. 311
•
to his meaning without shame and candour, frequently
liringing forward the sentiments of his predecessors in
scepticism, as the genuine productions of his own unassisted
powers of reasoning. His writings are now indeed probably
little read, and bis memory might long ago have been con*
sfcrned to oblivion; had not the editors of the last edition of
the Biographia Britannica brought forward his history and
writings in a strain of prolix and laboured panegyric. By
what inducement such a man as Dr. Kippis was persuaded
16 admit this article, we shall not now inquire, but the
perpetual struggle to create respect for Chubb is evidently
as impotent as it is inconsistent While compelled to admit
bis attacks upon all that the majority -of Christians hold
sacred, the writer tells us that' *^ Chubb*s views were nqt
inconsistent with a firm belief in our holy religion,'' and in
another place, he says that *^ Chubb appears to have bad
Very much' at heart the interests of our holy religion." Tq
his o\Vn profound respect for Chubb, this writer also unites
the ^ admiration'* of Dr. Samuel Clarke, bishop Hoadly^
Dr. John Hoadly, archdeacon RoUeston, and Mr. Harris ;
bnt he does not inform us in what wiay the admiration of
Uiese eminent characters was efxpressed ; and the only evi*
deuce lie brings is surely equivocal. He ' tells us that
'^ several of his tracts, when in. manuscript, were seen by
these gentlemen; but they never made thb least correC'^
tion in them, even with regard to orthography, in which
Chubb was deficient.'^ Amidst all these efforts to screen
Chubb from contempt, his biographer has not suppressed
the character of him eiven by Dr. Law, bishop of Carlisle^
in his *^ Considerations on the theory of religion," an4
which, from the well-known candour of that prelate^ may
be adopted with safety. " Chubb," says Dr. Law, ** not*
withstanding a tolerably clear head, and strong natural
parts, yet, by ever aiming at things far beyond his reach^
by attempting a v^iety of subjects, for which his narrow
circumstances^ and small compass of reading and know*
ledge, had in a great measure disqualified him ; from ^
fashionable, but a fallacious kind of philosophy, (with
which he set out, and by which one of his education might
very easily be misled), fell by degrees to suph confusion
in diyinlt^^ to siich low quibbling on some obscure p^issi^s
iu our translation of tha Bible, and was reduced to ^uch
wretched cavils as^ to several historical facts and circum*
Stances, i;vherein a small flkiU either in the languages or
•JVj
Ji ♦ •
S12 CHUBB.
sciences, might bare set him right ; or a small share of
real modesty would have supplied the want of them, by
putting him upon consulting those who could and would
have given him proper assistance ;-^that he seems to have
fallen at last into an almost universal scepticism; and quit*
ting that former serious and sedate sobriety which gave
him credit, contents himself wirh carrying on a mere farce
for some time ; acts the part of a solemn ^i^rave buffoon ;
sneers at all things he does not understand ; and after, all
his fair professions, and the caveat he has entered agaiiist
auch a charge, must unavoidably be set down in the seat
of the scorner.'* Every point in this charge is fully proved
in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Dr. Leland^»
View of Deistical Writers. *
CHUPLEIGH (Lady Mary), who had the character^of
a very philosophic and poetic lady, was born in 1^56, and
was the daughter of Richard Lee, of Winsloder, ia De-
vonshire, esq. She was married to sir George Chudleigh,
bart. by whom she had several children ; among the rest,
Eliza-Maria, who dying in the bloom of life, was lamented
by her mother in a poem entitled " A Dialogue between
Lucinda and Marissa." She wrote another poem called
•• The Ladies Defence," occasioned by an angry sermon
preached against the fair sex. These, with many others,
were collected intd a volume in 1703, and printed a third
time in 1722. She published also a volume of Essays upon
various subjects in verse and prose, in 17 iO, which have
been much admired for delicacy of style. These were de-
dicated to her royal highness the princess Sophia, electress
and duchess dowager of Brunswick; on which occasion
that princess, then in her eightieth year, honoured lier
with a very polite epistle.
' This lady is said to have written other things, as tra-
gedies, operas, masques, &c. which, though not printed,
are preser\'ed in her family. She died in 1710, in -her
£fty-^fifth year. She was a woman of a sound understanding,
but as a poetess, cannot be allowed to rank very high;.: It
was her merit, however, that although she had an educa-
tion in which literature seemed but little regarded, being
taught no other than her native language, her fondness
for books, great application^ and uncommpn abilities, jcn-
fibled her to figure among the literati of her time. Amidst
ft
C HUD LEI G H/ 31$
'" fhe charms of paetry, in which she took greai delight, she
' dedicated some part of her time to the severer studies of
phiiosophy. This appears from her Essays, in which she
discovers a great degree of piety and good sense. Seveiail
of. her. letters are iu the <* Memoirs of Richard Gwinnett
and Mrs. Thomas," 1731, 2 vols. Svo, and in GurU's Col-
lection of Letters, vol. III.*
CHURCH (Thomas), D. D. was born in 1707, and
educated at Brasen Nose college^ Oxford, where he took
' his degree of M. A. in 1731. In 1740 he was instituted to
the vicarage of Battersea, which, with a prebendal stall;in
St. Paul's cathedral, was the only preferment he obtained.
He distinguished himself much in the field of controversy^
in which he engaged with men of very opposite talents aafid
' pursuits ; with Wesley and Whitfie)d, for their industry
in promoting methodism, and with Middleton for equal
2eal in attacking the doctrines of Christianity. Against
the latter he published ^* A Vindication of the Miraculous
Powers which subsisted in the three* Centuries of the
Christian Church, in answer to Dr.-Middleton's Freeln«*
xjuiryi By which it is shewn, that we have no sufficient
ieason to believe, from the Doctor's reasonings and objec-
tions, that no such powers were continued to the churchy
after the days of the Apostles* With a preface, containing
some observations on Dr. Mead*s account' of the Demo-
niacs, in his Medica Sacra, ^' 1749. This was followed
about a year after, by ** An Appeal to the serious and un-
prejudiced, or a 8econd Vindication, &c." These were
so highly approved of, that the university of Oxford con*
ferred on him the degree of D. D. by diploma. He was
: also too zealously attached to religion to let the opinfi^ns
of lord Bolingbroke pass unnoticed, notwithstanding he
had been bis patron. His publication upon this- subjecdt
however, was anonymous, ** An Analysis of the Phibso*
J)hical Works of the late lord Bolingbroke," 1755. Dr.
; Church published eight single sermons between 1748 and
2756, in whieh last year he died.'
CHURCHIIL (Charles), an English poet of unques*
• cionable' genius, was bom in Vine-street, in the parish of
St. John the Evangelist, Westminster, some time in Fb*
4)niary, 1731. His lather was for many years eurate and
•--•■•■•' •■•'•• .- •
1 Ballard's Memoirs.-— Gibber's Lives.
f Lyso^s's ^Bvirons*-— NichpU't Bowysr, vol* II.
S;14 C H U R C H I L L.
lecturer of that parish, j&nd rector of Rainbam, near Grays^
ill Essex. . He placed his son, when about eight year;; of
age/at Westminster-school, which w^s tben superintended
by X>r. Nichols and Dr. Pierson Lloyd. His pit>6cieacy a^
school, although not inconsiderable, was less renaart^able •
than his irregularities. i3n entering his nineteenth year he
applied for matriculation at the university of Oxford,. whe;r^ .
it is reported by some, he was rejected on account of his
deficiency in the learned languages, and by others, thai
be . was hurt at the trifling and childish questions ppt to .
him, and answered tb^ e^aniiner with a cpptempt vifhich
was mistaken for ignorance/ It is.iiot easy to. reconcile
these - accounts, and,, perhaps, |iot of great impprtancef :
Churchill, however, was afterwards admitted of. Triiiit^.
college, Cambridge, hut i^vmediately returned, to liOodopi ."
and never visited the universHy^ny more. .> . ^ .
The reason of his abandoning the university ipay. have
bMn an attachment which he formed while at, Westi)[iin^^x:-r '
school, and which ended in a clandestine^ marriage at tb^ '
Fleet. This was a severe disappointn;)^nt to his fatber*$ .
hopes^ but he wisely became recoil ciled to what was ^ih
avoidable, and entertained the young couple in his housiQ
about a year, during which his /soiu's conduct was inre* .
proachable. In 1751 he retired to Sunderland,, in ^e,
north of Ei>g]and, where he applied hipiself,):o. such $tudiie$
aa might qualify him for the church, and at the customafy^
age he received deacon's^ orders froqii 'Dr. Wille$>,bishQP';
of Bath, and Wells, -ajid in 1756 was or4aiue4 priest .by;
Dr. Sherlock, .bishop of LondQU* He ii;b^p exerpised bi^
clerical functions $t Cadbury in Somersetshire, and i^t
JUJH^ham^ his /atber^s living, but i^ what nianner, or wit]|;^.
«i^at display of abilities, is not remembered* A story wimi:
onrrent some time after his dearth that he received a cura<;:y;:
of 30/. a year in Wales, and kept a public hpuse to SHF|3tly
kb deficiencies, but for this there appears.^o have )>een jdo^
i^tber foundation . than what the irregularities of hjbi iQpre .
advanced life supplied. So regardless was he of chai^tei>
thsa^his enemies found ready credit for any fiction ^i his:^
eKpence. While at Rainharo,. he endeavoured to. provide*
for his family by teaching the youth of the ne^hbourhood^.
an occupation which i^eciessity rendered eligible, and habi^ .
might have made pleasing ; but in 1758 bis father^s death,
opened a more flattering prospect to him in the metropolis^^
lihere he was chosen bis successor in the curacy and fee-
■#.
CHUHCHILL. 815
tureship of St JoWs. ¥iX some time he perforined the
duties of these offices with external decency at least, and
employed his leisure hours in the instruction of some pu^
pits in the learned languages, and was also engaged as a
teacher at a ladies^ boarding-school.
He was in his twenty-seventh year when he began lo
relax from the obligations of virtue, and more openly to
enter into thbse dissipations, which, while they ruitied- bis '
character and im))aired his health, were, not indirectly^
the precursors to his celebrity in public life. He was im«-
moderately fond of pleasure ; a constant attendant at tha
theatres, and the associate, of men who united wit and
profligacy; and qualified themselves for moral teachers by
practising the vices they censured in others. Lloyd, tbii
poet, had been one of his school-fellows at Westminster^
and their intimacy, renewed afresh, became now a. close
partnership in debt and dissipation. In one respect this
proved beneficial to Churchill. Dr. Lloyd^ his coropa^
Atones father, persuaded Churchiirs creditors to accept of
£ve shillings in the pound, and to grant releases; nor-
ought it to be concealed, that there is somre reason lot
believing that Churchill, as soon as he had acquired money
by his publications, voluntarily paid the full amount of the
original debts.
At what period be made the first experiinedt of his pot
eJtical talents is not known. He bad, in conjunction with'
Lloyd, the care of the poetical department in the ^^Th0
Library," a kind of magazine, of which Dr. Kippis was^
editof, and he probably wrote some small pieces in thai
work, but they cannot now be distinguished. About the
year 1759 or 1760, he wrote a poem of some length, en-*
titled ^* The Bard,'* which was rejected by an eminent
bookseller, perhaps justly, as the author did not publish it
afterwards, when it might have had the protection of hit
name. He wrote also " The Conclave,'" a satire levelled
at the dean and chapter of Westminster, which bis firiendt
prevailed upon him to suppress. Thus .disappointed in
his first two proddctions, his^ constant attendance at^ the
theatres suggeisted' a third, levi^lled at the players. This
was his celebrated '^ Rosciad,'* in which the pnfessionai
characters of the performer^ of Drury Lane- and Govent
Garden , theatres were examined with a severity, ys^t With*
an acuteness of criticism, and easy flow of humour and^
sarcasm^ which retidered what4ie probably considered as i
3U C H U R CHILL
temporal^ trifle, a publication of uncommon popularit}**.
He bad, however, so little encouragement in bringing this
poem forward, that five guineas were refused as the price
he valued it at ; and he printed it at his own risk when he
had scarcely ready money enough to pay for the necessary
advenisements. It was published in March 1761, and its
' sale exceeded all expectation, but as his name did not
appear to the first edition, and Lloyd had not long beibre
published " The Actor,'* a poem on the same subject, the
Rosciad was generally supposed to be the production of
the same writer; while, by others, it was attributed to
those confederate wits, Colman and Thornton. Churchill,
however, soon avowed a poem which promised so much
feme and profit, and as it had been not only severely
handled in the Critical Review, but positively attributed to
another pen, he published " The Apology : addressed to
the Critical Reviewers,'' 1761. In this he retaliated with
great bitterness of personal satire.
: The success^ of the ** Rosciad," and of ** The Apology,**
opened new prospects to their author. He saw in his
genius a source of plentiful emolument, but unfortunately
also be contemplated it as an object of terror, which might
be employed against the friends of virtue, with whom he
BO longer thought it necessary to keep any terms. Mfhile
insulting public decency by ♦the grossest immorality, he
aimed his vengeance on those who censured him, with ar
sprightliness of malignity and force of ridicule which he
deemed irresistible. His conduct, as a clergyman, had
long shocked bis parishioners, and incurred at length the
displeasure of Dr. Pearce, the dean of Westminster, who
remonstrated as became his station. But Churchill was
ifOw too far gone in profligacy, and being, as his friends
; have been pleased to say^ too honest to dissemble, he re*
aigned his curacy and lectureship ^, and with thi§ acknow-
i tedged sacrifice to depravity, threw off all the external
^ restraints which his former character might be thought to
impose. That his contempt for the clerical dress might be
more notorious, he was seen at all public places habited
in a blue coat with metal buttons, a goIdJaced waistcoat,'
a gold-laced hat, and ruffles.
In February 1761 a separation took place between liim
and his wife, whose imprudence. is said to have kept pace
« ■> *
>i^ See a letter from btm on this subject, in the Gent Mag.vpl. XtVIlI. p. 47U
CHURCHILL. 317
tvkh bis own * ; but from a licentious passage in one csif
his letters to Wilkes, it appears that he was tired of her
person, and probably neglected her in pursait.of vagrant
amours. As his conduct in this and other matters was too
notorious to pass without animadversion, he endeavoured
to vindicate it in a poem entitled *' Night,'' addressed to
his wretched partner Lloyd. The poetical beauties of this
poem, which are very striking, can never atone ■■. for the
absurdity as well as immorality of his main argument, that
avowed vice is more harmless than concealed ; and did not
prevent his- readers from perceiving, that lie who ipaiataias
it, must have lost shame as well as virtue*
His next publication was ^ The Ghost,'' 1762, ex*
tended, at irregular intervals, to four books. This wai
founded on the weH-knowa imposture of a ghost having
disturbed a family in Cock-lane ; but our poet contrived to
render it the vehicle of many characteristic sketches, and
desultory thoughts on various subjects unconnected with
its title. About this time he appears to have formed a
connection with the celebrated John Wilkes, an impostor
qi more ingenuity, who encouraged him to add faction to^;
profligacy^ and increase the number of his enemies by re*
Tiling every person of rank or distinction with whom-WUkes
chose to be at variance. His pen is said to have been aUo
employed in Wilkes's " North Briton," and in ". The
Prophecy of Famine." Churchill's next production was-
originally sketched in prose for that paper^ What other
contributions he* made cannot now be ascertained, buL it
may be suspected that Churchiirs satirical talent would ill
submit to the tameness of prose, nor indeed was such aa
employment worthy of the author of ^^ The Rosciad," and
*^ The Apology." — Wilkes suggested " The Prophecy of
Famine," as a more suitable vehicle for the bitterness of
national scurrility, and he was not mistaken. *
The ^^ Epistle to Hogarth" which followed, was occac-
sioned by that artist's having talten some liberties in his
political engravings, with the characters of the earls. Teo>>
pie and Chatham.^ * The only revenge he now took was a
paltry print representing Churchill as a Russian bear,
but whether this preceded or, followed the '^ Epistle" is
not (][uite clear. The parties had been once intimate^ and
* This has been denied. She survived htm, l^owever^ and he btqueathtrd to
fier an annuity of 60/. a year.
SfS C H U R C H I L L.
Chorchfll pud dae reverence to the talent^ of Hogmrtb, bctr
in bis present humour he stuck at nothing which coold
vex and irritates Hogarth died soon after, and some of
Churchill's friends asserted, with malicious satisfactioft,
that the poem had accelerated that event. . Mr. Nichols,
in his eopious life of Hogarth, starts some reasonable doubts
on this subject.
In i 7 63 Churchill formed an intimacy with the daughter
of a tradesman^ in Westminster, and prevailed with her
to live with him, but within a fortnight his passion was
satiated, and she had leisure to repent. Her father re*
ceived her back, and she might probably have been re^
formed had she not been insulted by a sister, and her .si-
tuation rendered so disagreeable that she preferred the
company of her seducer. Churchill thought him^lf bound
in honour and gratitude to receive her, and perpetuate her
wretchedness by a more lengthened connexion. While
this afiair was the general subject of public indignatioa^ be
iwrote ^^ The Conference,'' in which he assumes the lao*
piage of repentance and atonement ^with such psthetie
effect, that every reader most hope he was sincere-^
The duel which took place between Wilkes and Martin
gave rise to ^* The Duellist," 1763, which he extended to
three books, and diversified, as usual, by much personal
satire; In *' The Author," published about the end of the
same year, he gave more general satisfaction, as the topics
were of a more general satire. His first publication in
17^4 was ^' Gotham," which, without a definite-object, or
much connexion of parts^. contains many passages. of ster.^
ling merit. The ** Candidate" was written soon after, to
expose lord Sandwich, who was a candidate for the o£Bce of
high steward of the university of Cambridge. His lord-^
shipV deficiencies in moral conduct were perhaps no unfair
objects for satire ; but this from the pen of a man now de^
biUtated by habitual excess,, served only to prove that
Churchill was a profligate in contempt of knowledge and
reason.
The « Farewell," << The Times," and « Indqiendence,**^
were hasty compositions that added little to his fame ; andy
except perhaps ^< The Times,'' announced the deolioeof
* Of a celebrated statuary, says Mr. " spinster** mentioned in ChurchilPf
Cole, who was knighted by bi» majesty will, and who was, if we are not mis-
•ome yean before. Mr. Cole adds the taken, the lady he sedaaed.*T-Gole>
tiame» but it it uM tiie ttame of a MS. Athei» jh BriU Mift.
C H UB C HI L L- S19
^hn ]^i^er9« *^ Independence^' appeared in September,
I7€4y and was tbe last of his prodactions published in his
'ttfe«-tifne. " The Journey," and "The Fragment of a Dedi-
cation to Dr. Warburton," were brought to Hgiit by his
friends soon after his death,
^ Towards the end of October, 1764, he accompanied
Humphrey Cotes, one of Wilkes^s dupes, to'vtsit this pa*
triotin his Toiuntary exile in France. The party met at
Boulogne, where Churchill, imniediately on his arrival, *was
-attacked by a miliary fever, which terminated bts life^
Nov. 4, in the thirty-fourth year of his age. It was t««
ported^ that his last words were, ** What a fool have I been ! • ^
but 'Wilkes, who was present, thought it bis duty, oii ail
obca^tons^ to contradict this. He considered it asacalnmny
on a inan ^whose ^* fyrnmess of philosophy,^* be gravely io^
fermsus, ^' shone inftili lustre during the whole time of
his very severe ilkiess." His' body was brought from Bou*^
iogne for interment at Dover, where it was deposited in
the old cbdi^h^yard, former^ betongiog to the collegiacift
ebureii^ of St. Martin. A stone was afterwardis placed ea
bis grave, on which are inscribed bis- age^ the time of his
death^ and tius line ftotn his wodts:
. " life to the last enjoy'd, here Churchill lies/^ . '
" Of the nature of his 'life and its enjoyments, enougb lias
been said.— ^He ieh two sons, Charles and John, the chai^
of .whose education ' was generously undertaken by sir
Richard Jebb ; but they soon died, like their father, victims .
to imprudenoe and intempenuice. .
Tbe year after his death, a volume of Sermons wia^iib*
lished; which he is said to have prepared for the pressy but
this seems wholly ^ improbable. Tliey bear no marks vol
1^ composition idXsA it has been conjectured by tbe editor
of tbe Biogtaphia, that they ware some of his father's, which
he had copied forhis own use. Churchill was not a hypo^
erite,'and woold not have imblisbed sermons, for a serious
purpose ; nor could he be tempted by necessity to avail
Biftisel^ of tpbUic' curiosity. His poetry, supplied all his
wants ; and if we' nky credit his will, he left behind bun a
Considerable ium'iif money.' ^
The jneri^of Churchill, as a poet, has but lately been
appre^iaj^ed wi£|;ij.ri^H>3^rtiaUty. During his life, his works
were popular be}rond all competition. While he continued
to supply thdt fliidci^s 6f entertainment which is more^enc-
32a C IT U H C H I L L:
rally gratifying than a good mind can conceive, pra bad diie^i
will acknoAvtedge^ he was more eagerly andmore frequently -
read than any of bis contemporaries* CtnirchiU was ad<-
mirably suited to the time in. vvhich he Uved. But if his^
poems were popular with those who love to see worth de«
preciated, and distinctions levelled^ with the vulgar, the
envious, and the malignant, they were no less held in ab->
horrence by those who were as much hurt at the prostitu«>
tioD, as charmed by the excellence of his talents, .ai>d who
were afraid to praise his genius lest they should propagate
his writings. Few men, therefore, made so much noise
during their lives, or so little after their deaths. His part^
ners in vice and faction shrunk from the task of popetuating
his memory, either from the fear of an alliance with a cbawi
racter so obnoxious as to injure their party, orfrom the^
meglect with which bad men usually treat their associates,*
when they can be no longer useful. . Lloyd, to whom be
bad been more kind than Colman or Thornton, did not
aurvive him above a month. Colman and Thornton preserved
a cautious silence about a man whom to praise was to en-
gage with the many enemies be had created ; and Wilkes/
to whom he bequeathed the editorship and illustration ol
his poems by notes^ &c. neglected the task, until he had
succeeded in his ambitious manoeuvres, became ashamed
of the agents who had supported him, and left his poorer
partizans to shift for themselves. Even when Dr. Kippis
apphed to him for such information as might supply a life
of Churchill for the Biographia, he seemed unwilling err
unableto contribute much ; and a comparison of that lilor:
with the scattered accounts previously published, may con-
vince the reader that Dr. Kippis thanked him for more as«
sistance than he received.
While the friends of ChnrcfaiU were thn^ negligent of his
fame, it was not to be expected that his enemies would-be*
very eager to perpetuate the memory of a man by whoni
they had suffered so severely. Perhaps no writer etei?
made so many enemies, or carried his hostilities into so
many quarters, without provocation. If we except the
case of Hogarth, it is doubtful whether he ever attacked
the character of one individual who did him an injury, or
stood in his way. Such wantonness of detraction must.
have naturally led to the general wish that his name s^nd
works might b& speedily consigned to oblivion. Bis wri*
tings, however^ may now be read with more calmt)ei$s^ and
CHURCHILL 321
f
hi^ rank asa poet assigned with the regards due to genius^
however misapplied. If those passages in which his genius
shines most conspicuously were to be selected from the
mass of defamation by which they are surrounded^ he might
be allowed to approach to Pope in every thing but correct-
ness ; and even of his failure in this respect, it may be
justly said that be evinces carelessness rather than want of
taste. But